Mr. Okorocha, who spoke to journalists at the Government
House in Imo State early Monday, said the supplementary election would have
been unnecessary if INEC had considered the number of Permanent Voters Card
distributed in the affected areas instead of the number of registered voters.
The INEC Returning Officer of the State, Ibidapo Obe,
announced that the election was inconclusive because the margin (79,529)
between the frontrunner, Mr. Okorocha and his contender, Emeka Ihedioha of
Peoples Democratic Party, was less than the number of registered voters
(144,715) in wards across the state where elections did not hold or were
cancelled due to violence.
He said a new date would be announced for a supplementary
election.
Though Mr. Okorocha recognised the provision of the electoral
law in respect of the number of registered voters, he said INEC should have
considered distribution of PVC in the affected areas instead of registered
voters as only voters with PVC can vote.
“The electoral act has talked about registered voters and in
the workings of that act and in the spirit of the law, you cannot not make use
of number of registered voters, you have to make use of number of PVC
collected.
“When you look at the number of PVC collected you find out
that there is no need for this supplementary election because the number of PVC
collected will be less than the 79,000 votes difference between me and the PDP
candidate. But now they are basing on the number of registered voters. Number
of registered voters do not cast the vote; it is the number of PVC collected
that does,” he explained.
He, however, said he was ready to participate in the
supplementary election and in fact went ahead to claim victory in the election.
“You can only change the date of a burial but you cannot
change the burial. From the results available, the fact speaks for itself, we
have won this election despite all the irregularities,” Mr. Okorocha with a
contented smile.
Beaming with confidence, Mr. Okorocha said he was in fact
ready for the total re-run of the election if INEC deemed it necessary and
guaranteed that it would be conducted fairly. He insisted that his contender
cannot defeat him in a free and fair election.
“Let me say that there is no basis for comparison when I’m
told that I’m in contest with the PDP candidate and he scored some votes it is
not true. I think I’m in contest with more unseen elements than the candidate
himself. If this election is conducted in the way it should be conducted in a
free and fair manner, my opponent would have up to 100,000 votes. Never. Not in
Imo State; not at all,” he boasted.
Mr. Okorocha said he would have won the election with a
landslide if his contender, abetted by men in security uniform, had not
perpetrated widespread electoral fraud.
“If you look at what has happened in his areas of
jurisdiction and his local government, Mbaise local government, Ahiazu,
Ezinnite, Aboh Mbaise, where he gave himself almost 80,000 votes. Can you
imagine in Aboh Mbaise, you have 51,000 voters when the actual PVC collected is
about 60,000 and in Mbaitoli where you have over 100,000 PVC collected the
total votes there is about 30,000 so that tells you the manipulation. What we
saw in those areas was simply the militarisation of the entire process –
snatching of ballot boxes and violence and what have you.
“But because of these manipulations and writing of results
and taking result sheets and going to somebody’s house – escorted by security
agencies- to write the result and come in the private car to INEC headquarters,
that is why many people think there is a contest. So I’m not in contest with
that gentle man, I’m in contest with the entire manipulation of the system and
the election,” he said.
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