Athan Achonu, the Labour Party’s (LP) candidate for the Imo State governorship election on November 11, 2023, led his supporters in a protest on Thursday against the poll results at the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) national headquarters in Abuja.
Around noon, Achonu and his followers broke into the electoral commission’s headquarters, claiming that the results the commission had declared differed from those that INEC had on its server.
So, the demonstrators holding placards requested that the Certified True Copies (CTCs) of all election documents be made available by the electoral umpire.
Among the very upset LP supporters were several holding signs that read, among other things, “Hear the people’s voice” and “Give out the CTC for Imo State.”
READ ALSO: Imo election: LP candidate was not refused access to certified true copy documents – INEC
The party has the right to request CTC of papers, and INEC stated on Monday that it “would work assiduously to issue them.”
Days later, though, Achonu and his allies charged that INEC was holding up the delivery of the Certified True Copies of the election materials.
On November 12, 2023, INEC proclaimed All Progressives Congress (APC) governor Hope Uzodimma re-elected.
With 540,308 votes, Uzodimma defeated PDP candidate Samuel Anyanwu, who received 71,503 votes, and Achonu, who received 64,081 votes, according to INEC.
Both the LP and the PDP have since rejected the results. Both sides claimed that voter intimidation, election misconduct, and other purported anomalies tainted the process.
