By Jimmy
The Imo State Government has reacted to the victory of the state Governor and candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Hope Uzodinma.
It also blamed the electoral loss of the Labour Party (LP) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the just concluded governorship elections on the crisis in the parties.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), on Sunday, declared the Uzodimma as the winner of the November 11 governorship poll.
The APC candidate polled 540,308 votes to defeat his closest rivals, PDP’s Samuel Anyanwu, who scored 71,503 votes, and LP’s Athan Achonu who got 64,081.
SEE: Hope Uzodimma: From Senator to Imo State Governor
The State Commissioner for Information, Declan Emelumba, in an interview with Channels TV on Monday, said the opposition parties were not prepared for the governorship poll. He explained that he was surprised both camps were able to secure some votes despite the internal wranglings.
“Before this election, any discerning observer would have seen that virtually the whole of Imo State emptied in APC,” Emelumba said. “The APC is the only party where there was no faction, no defection, no problem.
“Every other party that contested this election, had internal crisis, internal problems, a lot of mass defections. So there was no way they could have won. There was no way they could have even performed better than they did.
“I am even surprised they managed to gather the votes they gathered because they were not prepared for the election. They did not campaign, people were leaving them.”
The commissioner also spoke on the recent protest embarked upon by the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC). He said despite the protest, Governor Uzodimma was overwhelmingly re-elected for a second term in office by the people of Imo State.
The government’s spokesman also commended the electoral body for the smooth conduct of the election, stressing that despite initial fears, the exercise was generally considered peaceful.
