Anambra South By-election: ADC’s Amamgbo rejects results, alleges systemic sabotage, collusion by INEC and APGA
From Kenneth Udeh, Awka
Barr. Donald Chidi Amamgbo, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) candidate in the just-concluded Anambra South Senatorial bye-election held on Saturday, has raised alarm over what he described as “systemic sabotage” and “deliberate disenfranchisement” during the conduct of the poll.
Recall that the Returning Officer at the INEC Office in Nnewi, Frank Ojiako, declared Emmanuel Nwachukwu of APGA the winner of the Anambra South senatorial seat.
Nwachukwu polled 90,408 votes to defeat his closest rival, Azuka Okwuosa, candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who scored 19,847 votes while Donald Amangbo of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) emerged third with 2,889 votes.
Addressing journalists in Awka on Tuesday, Amamgbo said the election was neither free nor fair, alleging collusion between the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) to undermine the credibility of the process.
According to him, INEC deliberately crippled the ADC’s capacity to monitor the election by withholding accreditation tags for ward and local government collation agents on the eve of the poll.
He further claimed that in Ihiala Local Government, a doctored list of polling agents was circulated by the commission, which he said differed from the authentic list submitted by his party.
“These are not mistakes. They are not clerical oversights. They are acts of sabotage,” Amamgbo declared. “How can an election be free and fair when one party is denied collation agents? That is like asking a team to play football blindfolded while the referee looks the other way.”
The ADC candidate accused APGA of normalising vote buying, exploiting the economic hardship of citizens, and enthroning a culture of electoral manipulation.
He also alleged that the senator-elect from the bye-election is “tethered to the control of Governor Charles Soludo,” describing the outcome as “puppetry” rather than democracy.
Amamgbo referenced Governor Soludo’s earlier remark that “Labour and ADC parties are dead in Anambra,” insisting that the election irregularities were part of a wider effort to sideline opposition voices in the state.
“The real victims are the people of Anambra South,” he lamented. “They were denied the chance to elect a candidate who campaigned transparently, who funded his own movement, and who made no deals with godfathers.”
Calling for a review of the entire exercise, Amamgbo urged INEC to undergo institutional reforms that would guarantee independence, transparency, and accountability. He also called for proper voter and agent education to protect the people’s mandate and resist manipulation.
“This struggle is bigger than me. It is about securing the future of our democracy and restoring faith in the ballot,” he said. “Anambra South deserves better. Nigeria deserves better. And until we achieve that, I will not stop speaking.”
Amamgbo vowed to continue challenging what he described as the hijacking of the people’s will by vested interests and compromised institutions, stressing that democracy must remain a right, not a privilege.
The SUN reports that the July 2024 death of the senator, Ifeanyi Ubah, who represented Anambra South in the Senate, necessitated the conduct of Saturday’s by-election, which was contested by 12 political parties.
INEC also declared Ifeoma Azikiwe the winner of the Anambra House of Assembly, Onitsha North Constituency 1 by-election.
Announcing the results in Onitsha, the INEC Returning Officer, Ibiam Ekpe, disclosed that Mr Azikiwe of APGA scored 7,774 votes to defeat her closest rival and candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Justina Azuka, who polled 1,909 votes.
He said that the candidate of the APC, Ezennia Ojekwe, and that of Young Progressives Party, Njideka Ndiwe, scored 1,371 and 655 votes respectively.
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