APC rejects APGA’s victory in Anambra over alleged rigging

The candidate of the All Progressives Congress in the Anambra South Senatorial by-election, Azuka Okwuosa, has rejected the results of the senatorial elections held in the seven local government areas in the zone on Saturday, August 16, 2025, alleging rigging and other electoral malpractices.

Okwuosa accused APGA of using security operatives and some officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission to allegedly sabotage the electoral process and described the exercise as a “severe blow to the country’s democratic integrity”.

In the result announced by the INEC Returning Officer, Prof. Frank Ojiako, APGA’s Emmanuel Nwachukwu emerged winner with 90,408 votes to defeat the APC candidate, Okwuosa, who scored 19,847 votes and Donald Amamgbo of the African Democratic Congress, who got 2,889 votes.

Reacting to the conduct and outcome of the elections in a press conference in Oraifite, Ekwusigo Local Government Area of the state, on Sunday, he described the exercise as a “charade, a rape on the people’s mandate”, and nothing but an “embarrassment” to democracy.

He alleged that APGA, the ruling party and the state government deployed the state security apparatus of Operation Udo-ga-chi and Agunechemba in allegedly intimidating, harassing voters and manipulating the process to its advantage.

He said, “Saturday’s election in all seven local government areas that made up Anambra South Senatorial district lacked integrity, competence, neutrality and moral standing.

” It should be rejected, and the results should not stand on moral grounds.

“What we witnessed was a total charade and a deliberate sabotage where the state government and APGA used the state security apparatus of ‘Operation Udo-ga-chi’ and other state actors to create an unfair advantage for themselves and rendered the entire process compromised.

“Even when the Nigerian Police banned Operation Udo-ga-chi from participating in the elections, they were all over the places harassing, intimidating and laying siege to voters, when they were supposed to be protecting the people against kidnappers in a state where kidnappers and gunmen have been unleashing terror on the people.

“The people deserve elections that are free, fair, and credible and not exercises where the outcome is predetermined and compromised. Until our elections are adequately prepared for and conducted transparently, it will remain under siege.

“Saturday’s election took off as expected, and my party was coasting to victory when suddenly over 300 Operatives of the Udo-ga-chi group, made up of people with questionable characters, started invading all seven local governments across Anambra South Senatorial zone.”

He also alleged that operation Udo-ga-chi equally laid siege to his residence and prevented him from casting vote, saying that he was lucky to have cast his vote before their arrival.

According to him, his political party highlighted the possibility of the incident before the commencement of the election, noting that they were aware that the State’s ruling party, APGA, had made it clear that they would use all the state apparatus to intimidate and coax voters.