Guber Poll: Labour Party Agent Beaten, Bundled Out Of Imo Collation Centre

A Labour Party (LP) agent, Calistus Ihejiagwa Imo State, was on Sunday morning, beaten and bundled out of the Imo State Governorship Election Collation Centre in Owerri, the state capital.

The agent consistently objected to the election results collated from the local government areas of the state, saying the results brought before the collation centre were at variance with what was uploaded on the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV).

Ihejiagwa repeatedly said he had a petition to submit before the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) but he was shut down by the Returning Officer for the election, Prof Abayomi Fashina, who said it was not in his purview to receive any petition.

The Labour Party agent demanded that the collation be suspended for certain reconciliation to be done between the figures on the IReV and those brought by LGA collation officers.

Ihejiagwa was seen as an disruptor by fellow party agents, who subsequently pounced on him and bundled out of the collation centre at 5am while collation continued.

It would be recalled that off-cycle governorship elections were simultaneously held in Imo, Kogi and Bayelsa State on Saturday, November 11, 2023, though collation of results from the two other states had been adjourned to this Sunday morning.

LEADERSHIP reports that violence, vote-buying and apathy marred the elections, according to preliminary reports by various election observer groups.