In the aftermath of the November 11 governorship election in Imo State, the Labour Party candidate, Senator Nathan Achonu, has vowed to challenge the tribunal’s decision affirming Governor Hope Uzodinma’s victory.
Achonu expressed his commitment to pursuing his case to the highest level, including the Supreme Court, during a press conference in Abuja.
Reflecting on the Imo State Election Petition Tribunal’s judgment, Achonu said he felt “so much sadness and disappointment.”
The tribunal dismissed his petition, stating he failed to demonstrate “substantial noncompliance with the Electoral Act” in the election’s conduct.
Achonu critiqued the tribunal’s judgment, emphasizing that his inability to prove noncompliance was due to his “nonproduction of the BVAS Machine before the Tribunal.”
Despite this setback, he affirmed his continued faith in Nigeria’s democracy and judicial process, stating, “This judgment has not in any way whittled down my belief in democracy and the judicial process of our dear country, Nigeria… It has rather, unlike the past ones, emboldened me to insist on the right thing being done, enough is enough!”
He pledged to exhaust all legal avenues to challenge the judgment, expressing optimism about achieving justice.
“I am very optimistic that justice will be served in the long run because there are still upright, courageous, and incorruptible justices in our Judiciary,” Achonu stated. He also plans to seek an order compelling the Attorney General to prosecute INEC officers and officials involved in electoral offenses, whom he blames for contributing to Nigeria’s poverty and insecurity.
Recounting his campaign challenges, Achonu alleged that insecurity was used to intimidate political opponents, and he narrowly escaped an assassination attempt. Despite these threats, he and his team campaigned extensively across the state, even in Uzodinma’s hometown. Achonu accused Uzodinma of “stealing” votes with INEC’s collusion, asserting, “Then after taking all these risks and mobilizing people to come out and vote, he thinks he can steal their votes and mandates with connivance with INEC and now Tribunal. It will not happen! Never! We will not allow that to stand.”
Achonu criticized INEC for failing to produce the BVAS Machine as ordered by the tribunal. He noted, “It may interest you to note that the same INEC had prior to the commencement of hearing of my Petition before the Tribunal refused to grant access to Labour Party accredited Inspectors to inspect the BVAS Machine… regardless of the fact that INEC had extorted from me millions of Naira purportedly as a deposit for the cost of the inspection of BVAS Machine.”
In response, INEC denied these allegations. Chief Press Secretary to the INEC Chairman, Mr. Rotimi Oyekanmi, stated that INEC did not extort money from Achonu, challenging him to provide proof of payments. Oyekanmi emphasized, “It is not in the character of the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC to extort individuals… If the Senator made any payment into any personal account, I want to encourage him to publicly disclose it and also make the name(s) of the account holders available to us for immediate investigation.”
