Friday, November 13, 2026

Labour’s Athan Achonu demands cancellation of Imo guber election over widespread rigging

The opposition candidate said that agents of his party returned with disturbing reports of hijacking of ballot boxes and other electoral materials as well as vote buying.

• November 12, 2023
Athan Achonu
Athan Achonu [Photo credit: THISDAYLIVE]

Candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in Saturday’s Imo governorship election, Athan Achonu, has called for a cancellation of results from some polling units over alleged irregularities.

Mr Achonu made the call in his hometown, Umulumo, in Ehime Mbano council area, on Saturday. He said that agents of his party returned with disturbing reports of hijacking of ballot boxes and other electoral materials as well as vote buying.

He added that the LP had officially written to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for requisite action and called for the cancellation of results emanating from the affected locations.

“In parts of Ideato, the process was characterized by ballot box snatching and all manners of irregularities, including intimidation of voters,” he said. “This is unacceptable. We have already written to INEC to take appropriate steps to ensure that fake results are not uploaded.“ 

He, however, decried the “absence of security personnel in certain places around Orlu and Orsu”, while commending the military for turning up to save the situation in some other areas.

INEC’s Head of Voter Education, Emmanuella Opara, however, said that the commission was yet to receive an official report on the alleged irregularities. 

(NAN)

We have recently deactivated our website's comment provider in favour of other channels of distribution and commentary. We encourage you to join the conversation on our stories via our Facebook, Twitter and other social media pages.

More from Peoples Gazette

Nigerian Bar Association

States

Independence: NBA urges Nigerians to expect better future

The NBA said that ordinary Nigerians should be deriving benefit from the subsidy removal rather than hardship.

farmers

Agriculture

FG tasks ECOWAS on leveraging financing strategies for agroecology

The federal government has urged stakeholders in the agriculture and finance sectors in the West Africa region to leverage financing strategies to enhance agroecology practices

Katsina State

Politics

Katsina youths pledge to deliver over 2 million votes to Atiku

“Katsina State is Atiku’s political base because it is his second home.”

Drug abuse

States

Gov. Yusuf sends drug abuse bill to Kano assembly, seeks special court for offenders

The speaker, however, referred the bill to the House Committee on Rules and Business.

United Nations Climate Change

World

UN launches net-zero recognition framework to track real climate progress

UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell said the framework has moved from a pilot phase to full implementation.

Adebowale Adedokun

NationWide

BPP urges procurement leaders to embrace strategic thinking, innovation

Mr Adedokun reaffirmed the BPP’s commitment to sustained engagement with stakeholders to advance procurement professionalism.

Iranian president

Abuja

Iran seeks stronger economic, political ties with Nigeria

Mr Pezeshkian ‌said this while receiving a letter of credence from Nigeria’s ambassador to Iran, Hamza Sallau, during an official diplomatic engagement in Tehran.

NDC attack

Politics

NDC Attack: APC abhors violence; democracy can’t thrive on anarchy, says spokesman

“The threats to unleash mayhem by the opposition parties recently should not be lost on the public. Our democracy cannot thrive on anarchy and disorderly conduct,” he said.

Nigerians cooling off under heat

Health

Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu intensify vaccination against meningitis

Health authorities in Anambra, Ebonyi and Enugu say they have intensified vaccination against Meningitis and other heatwave related diseases in their various states.