The governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress in last Saturday’s election in Anambra State, Prince Nicholas Ukachukwu, has rejected the outcome of the poll, dismissing the victory of the All Progressives Grand Alliance candidate, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo.
Speaking with journalists in Awka, Ukachukwu alleged that the election was marred by widespread intimidation and violence targeted at his supporters, many of whom, he said, sustained injuries and lost property, including houses and vehicles.
He noted that consultations were ongoing with his supporters and party stakeholders before taking a final decision on his next course of action.
He said: “We thank members of our team, they are all gallant soldiers, they are all winners in different ways, including those who were intimidated in many ways, their cars burnt, houses burnt, even my deputy who was intimidated into running for her dear life when they threatened her. All these people are winners.
“I called you here to tell you that we are speaking with our agents and collating information about what happened on that day, and we will talk when the time is right. Some of my agents were abducted by our opponents and kept until after the election, all these things are not worth talking about now. At this point we are still collating information both from our party agents and I have to consult my party to know what next.”
Ukachukwu also accused security agencies of arresting one of his supporters who was responsible for distributing funds meant for party agents, alleging that the money was falsely tagged as vote-buying funds.
“They arrested my supporter who was to pay our agents, saying he was carrying money meant for vote buying. Can I buy votes against a sitting governor who has the treasury of the state? The result of the election will show you who bought votes. If I bought votes, it would have reflected on the number of votes that I got,” he said.
“Go and check, all the people they arrested were APC people. Go and see the young lady whose house was burnt in Anambra East, her only crime is that she believed in our party and canvassed for our victory.”
The APC candidate, however, expressed gratitude to his supporters, noting that the over 99,000 votes he received were a testament to the growing strength of the APC in Anambra.
“But for me to have 99,000 genuine votes is even unprecedented. Those are people who voted because Anambra must go forward. The number of votes I got is even enough to tell them that APC can no longer be ignored in Anambra.
“Those 99,000 people are the people who voted for us, they are part of those I will consult about our next move. Those are people who believe Anambra must be better. Our agents who we couldn’t pay because they kidnapped my supporter, yet they stood their ground and worked for us.
“Today, they cannot say that APC is not in existence in Anambra because 99,000 is not a small number,” he added.
