*INEC postpones election in Ihiala, with 148,407 registered voters, to Nov 13
*Soludo leads, wins 17 councils
*YPP wins Nnewi North, PDP wins Ogbaru, APC records nil
While Professor Chukwuma Soludo is in the lead, the winner of the Anambra State 2021 governorship election may be decided by the outcome of the poll in Ihiala LGA, which the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has rescheduled for November 13.
Due to non-arrival of election materials and irregularities, the poll could not be conducted in Ihiala on Saturday. It was later extended to Sunday but again was, yesterday, postponed to Saturday, November 13.
Although, All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, Candidate in the election, Professor Chukwuma Soludo, was coasting home to victory as results of the poll were being tallied by the INEC, yesterday, fears that the poll may be declared inconclusive without Ihiala Local Council, which has 148,407 registered voters on INEC’s list, loomed.
Currently, Soludo has 98,178 votes; Mr. Val Ozigbo of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP is on the second spot with 49,401 votes while Andy Uba of the All Progressives Congress, APC is coming third with 40,770 votes.
As it is, depending on the outcome of the Ihiala election, either Ozigbo or Uba can overtake Soludo because 148,407 potential votes are available. There was no election in Oba Ward 1, Oba Ward II and Akukwu Ward, all in Idemili South LGA, which have no fewer than 40,000 registered voters.
Also, INEC was meeting to decide whether or not to accept Orumba North LGA result, which the collation officer claimed he signed under duress. the council has 93,620 registered voters.
However, in the event of any of them overtaking Soludo, there may be a run-off between the candidate and Soludo because neither APC nor PDP has met the spread of at least 25 per cent of votes in 14 local councils, which constitute two-thirds of the 21 local councils.
Rescheduling the election for November 13, 2021, INEC warned trouble-makers to steer clear of all the venues where the poll will hold in Ihiala Local Council.
When Vanguard visited some of the venues of the election, including Okohia Primary School, Ihiala, INEC officials who were to conduct the election were packing their materials to leave the scene.
INEC officials met at Okohia Primary School Ihiala declined comments, claiming that they were incompetent to speak on the matter but noted that the election had been postponed till next Saturday.
How Soludo floored his opponents
Soludo won 17 of the 19 LGAs announced so far. He lost Nnewi North and Ogbaru.
Nnewi North was won by the Young Progressive Party, YPP, candidate, Senator Ifeanyi Ubah while Ozigbo won Ogbaru.
With the INEC rescheduling election in Ihiala Local Council for November 13, results from two local councils are being awaited.
Soludo leads
With a margin of over 39,000 votes, Soludo has taken a significant lead over his opponents.
A break down of results announced so far by collation officers at the INEC headquarters, in Awka showed that in Dunukofia LGA, APGA scored 4,124 votes, the PDP got 1,680 while the APC had 1,991.
In Awka South LGA, APGA polled 12,891 votes, PDP – 5,498, and APC – 2,595.
For Oyi LGA, APGA won with 6,133 votes, followed by the APC- 2,830, and PDP – 2,484, while in
Ayamelum LG, the results are as followed: APGA- 3,424, PDP- 2,804, APC – 2,409.
Anambra East LGA recorded the following result: APGA – 9,746, APC- 2,034, and PDP – 1,380.
Results from Anaocha Local Government Area showed that APGA had 6,911 votes, PDP- 5,108, and APC – 2,085.
The election result in Idemili South LGA is as follows: APGA -2,312; PDP-2,016; APC- 1,039 and YPP -752.
In Aguata LGA, it was APC – 4773; APGA – 9136; PDP -3798; and YPP -1070 votes
In Njikoka, APGA had the upper hand with 8808 votes followed by PDP, 3409 votes; APC, 3,216 votes ; and YPP -924 votes
However, YPP’s Ifeanyi Ubah showed his might in his native Nnewi North where he became the only governorship candidate among the other 16, who delivered his local council.
He polled an unassailable 6,485 votes to outwit Soludo of APGA, who garnered 3,369 votes. APC’s Andy Uba got 1,778 votes while Ozigbo of the PDP scored 1,511 votes.
In Onitsha South, it was APC-3,909; APGA -3,387; PDP – 3,781; and YPP-682 votes.
A similar result was posted in Onitsha South as follows: APC- 2,050; APGA, 4,281; PDP -2,253; and YPP-271 votes.
For Orumba South, the results were APC- 2.060; APGA – 4,394; PDP -1,672; and YPP – 887 votes.
In Nnewi South, APGA continued its winning streak with 3,243 votes compared to APC’s 1,307; PDP’s 2,227; and YPP’s 1,327 votes.
The result for Awka North showed APGA polling 1,908 votes. APC got 775 votes while PDP scored 840 votes.
In Ekwusigo, it was APC, 1237; APGA, 2570; and PDP, 1857. And in Idemili North, APC scored 2291; APGA garnered 5358 votes while PDP had 2312 votes.
In Ogbaru LGA, Ozigbo held sway, polling 3,445 votes while Soludo had 3,051 votes and Andy Uba ot 1,233 votes.
Source: Vanguard
