Confusion as INEC declares APC winner of Imo north bye-election

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared the All Progressives Congress (APC) winner of the Imo north bye-election.

The election was held at 602 voting points in six local government areas (LGAs), on Saturday.

The LGAs include Ihitte Uboma, Ehime Mbano, Isiala Mbano, Obowo, Okigwe, and Onuimo.

The seat became vacant at the senate following the death of Benjamin Uwajumogu in December 2019.

Announcing the results at the state secretariat in Owerri, Hakeem Adikum, the returning officer, declared the APC winner of the poll, but he refused to announce any candidate of the party as winner.

He said the APC secured 36,811 votes while Emmanuel Okewulonu, candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), polled 31,903 votes.

Adikum said the PDP candidate won in Obowo LGA, where he hails from, while the APC won in the remaining five LGAs.

“I hereby return the All Progressives Congress as the winner of the bye-election held in Imo North on Saturday, December 5,” he said.

There are two candidates, Ifeanyi Ararume and Frank Ibezim, laying claim to the APC senatorial ticket.

On Friday, a federal high court in Abuja disqualified Ibezim from contesting the bye-election for making false declaration in the documents he submitted to INEC.

The development came few hours after an appeal court sitting in Owerri, the state capital, declared Ibezim as the authentic candidate of the APC after a legal battle with Ararume.

Francis Ezeonu, INEC resident electoral commissioner in Imo state, said the electoral umpire was unable to return a particular candidate from the APC as winner of the election because of several court orders for and against both candidates.