Opposition Candidates that contested in the Abia local government election of November 2, 2024 are crying out over the frustration they are facing as they prepare to challenge the outcome in court.
The candidates allege that the Abia State Independent Electoral Commission (ABSIEC) has shown unwillingness to issue them election results for the contested chairmanship and councillorship seats.
Speaking at a press briefing in Umuahia Thursday, one of the chairmanship contestants, Barr. Emerson Azubuike, said that all efforts he has made to get the certified true copy(CTC) of the poll results have been rebuffed by ABSIEC.
Azubuike, who contested for the chairmanship seat of Isuikwuato Local Government under the banner of the African Democratic Congress(ADC), told journalists that he applied for the CTC of his poll result since November 3, 2024, but was yet to receive them.
He said that instead of issuing him the CTC, ABSIEC officials have been tossing him about, thereby increasing his frustration.
According to him, when he submitted his application for the CTC, the ABSIEC Chairman, Prof George Chima directed him to see the Electoral Officer(EO) for Isuikwuato.
However, Azubuike lamented that instead of attending to him, the EO bluntly stated that he could not issue the CTC of poll eesult to him and referred him back to the Chairman of the electoral body.
“I’m being frustrated from going to court. This is two weeks now and they have refused to give me the results of the chairmanship election for Isuikwuato,” he moaned.
Corroborating his party’s chairmanship candidate, the Abia State chairman of ADC, Deacon Iyke, said that Azubuike and his deputy, Emeka Ernest Nwabor “did very well in the election” hence the need to challenge the results declared by ABSIEC.
He confirmed that the state electoral body has “refused to give us our election results despite our application for the results since November 3, 2024 through our candidates”.
When contacted on phone by journalists, the ABSIEC Chairman repeated the same thing he had told the ADC chairmanship candidate, saying that he should meet the EO for Isuikwuato.
Meanwhile, the State Chief Judge, Hon. Justice Lilian Abai had on November 8, 2024 inaugurated the Local Government Election Petition Tribunal to handle petitions arising from the council poll.
The CJ charged the LG Tribunal headed by Chier Magistrate, Uguru Eme Uguru to discharge their duties without fear or favour, adding that they should apply dedication and integrity in adjudicating the disputes arising from the November 2 LG poll.
In his response, the Tribunal Chairman thanked the Chief Judge for finding them worthy for the assignment and promised that members would carry out the job with diligence to justify the confidence reposed in them.
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