INEC Fixes Imo Supplementary Election For April 25

There was mild drama Wednesday as
the Resident Electoral Commissioner
for Imo State, Dr. Gabriel Ada failed to
give the accurate number of registered
voters and the number of Permanent
Voter Cards (PVC) collected in the areas
where the Commission will conduct
supplementary governorship fixed for
April 25.
INEC had while declaring the
governorship election inconclusive,
given the figure of registered voters
in the affected areas as 144715,
which was higher than the margin
with which the All Progressives
Congress (APC) governorship
candidate, Governor Rochas
Okorocha was leading his closest
rival, Emeka Ihedioha.
But Ada who briefed journalists
Wednesday, could not confirm the
figure or disclose the number of
PVC distributed in the areas.
When pressed further, the REC, who
had come under fire for the alleged
compromised role of the
Commission during the Presidential
and governorship elections in the
state, said that “the number is
approximately between 145,000 to
150,000 registered voters”.
He also stated that the number of
PVC collected will not form a
threshold for the number of voters
that will participate in the
supplementary election, adding that
“those that did not collect their PVC
before the election still have the
opportunity to do so because only
those with their PVC that will
participate in the election”.
The REC who was not also emphatic
on the number of Polling Units
where the scheduled election will
hold, said that “the election will
hold in over 200 Polling Units in 23
Local Government Areas of the
state”.
He announced further that the APC
won 16 seats in the House of
Assembly elections, while the
election was inconclusive in six
constituencies and has been
rescheduled to hold on the same
date with the supplementary
election.