Tension As INEC Conducts Governorship re-run Election In Imo, Abia, Taraba

Posted by African Examiner Featured, Latest Headlines, Nigeria 2015 Election, Politics Saturday, April 25th, 2015

INEC will today (Saturday) hold supplementary governorship elections in Abia, Imo and Taraba states as well as National Assembly elections across 11 states.

Recall that governorship elections in the 3 states were declared inconclusive because the margin between the leading candidate and the second place was less than the number of cancelled votes.

In Imo state, the Returning Officer, Professor Ibidapo Obe declared the election inconclusive because the number of cancelled votes (144,715) is higher than the margin of win (79,529). Governor Okorocha of APC polled 385,671 while PDP candidate Emeka Ihedioha got 306,142 votes.

While in Abia it’s a staright fight between the PDP candate Dr Ikpeazu and the candidate of the All Progessive Grand Alliance (APGA) Dr Alex Otti. The PDP candidate is leading in the results already declared as they go into the re-run.

The supplementary governorship election in Abia State will take place in 276 polling units across nine local government areas: Aba North, Aba South, Ikwuano, Ohiafia, Osisioma, Ugwunagbo, Umuahia North, Umuahia South and Umunneochi.

In Taraba state, after a long delay during the March 28 elections, the Taraba State Returning officer Prof. Muhammad Kyari declared the exercise inconclusive.

He explained that the number of canceled votes was above the gap between APC candidate, Aisha Alhassan, who came second and the PDP standard bearer, Darius Dickson Ishaku who was in the lead.

Ishaku polled a total of votes 297,552 from nine of the 14 local government areas of the State as against his rival, Alhassan, who scored 234, 122 votes.

Meanwhile, to forestall breakdown of the law and order during the scheduled polls, the acting Inspector General of Police, Mr.Solomon Arase, deployed a Deputy Inspector General, 4 Assistant Inspectors General and seven Commissioners of Police to the Abia, Imo and Taraba states.