Anambra election: INEC official missing with 41 result sheets -Returning Officer by Sodiq Oyeleke with agency report

A Supervisory Presiding Officer has reportedly “carted away” 41 results sheets in the ongoing Anambra Governorship election. The Returning Officer in Idemili South Local Government of Area of the state, Dr Gabriel Othong, made this known while presenting results at the Independent National Electoral Commission office in Awka on Sunday. He said that the whereabouts of the INEC official and result sheets were unknown, adding that 41 of the 42 result sheets for 89 polling units were “carted away”. Othong, who is from the University of Calabar, Cross River, noted that there was no election in Oba Ward 1, Oba Ward 11, and Akukwu ward all in Idemili South Local Government Area of Anambra. The Returning Officer explained that electoral officials were not deployed in some of the polling units due to cases of gunshots. He said, “One of the SPOs carted away 41 result sheets out of the 42 result sheets meant for the 89 polling units in the affected wards. “Over 40, 000 voters were not able to vote in the affected areas due to the development.” The agent of the All Progressives Congress, Chief Ebere Obiakor, said election held in those places but the results were not collated. But the collation agent of the Peoples Democratic Party, Dr Alex Obiogbolu, countered the position of the APC agent, saying there was no election in any of the affected places. Victor Umeh of the All Progressives Grand Alliance corroborated Obiogbolu, insisting there was no election in those areas. Meanwhile, in the result for the top three parties released for Idemili South, APC got 1,036, APGA- 2,312, and PDP-2,016. NAN reports that Idemili South Local Government Area has a total of 112, 652 out of which only 6, 622 voters were accredited. You can follow PUNCH Live updates here: https://punchng.com/anambra-elections/ Copyright PUNCH.