Candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Prof. Anthony Ani has been announced winner of Saturday’s Ebonyi South Senatorial by-election in the State.
TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports David Umahi vacated the Ebonyi South Senatorial seat when he was appointed Minister of Works by President Bola Tinubu.
Ani won with 46,270 votes, defeating his closest rival, Ifeanyi Eleje of APGA who garnered 3,513.
Silas Onu of the PDP polled 2,783 votes and Mr Linus Okorie of the LP scored 2,710 votes in the election.
Returning Officer for the Ebonyi South Senatorial election, Eze Uchechukwu, disclosed this on Sunday in Afikpo Local Government Area of the state.
According to Eze, Prof. Ani, having certified by the law, is declared the winner and is returned elected.
The returning officer earlier announced a total votes of 56,363 were cast, while rejected votes were 695.
PDP, LP Candidates allege vote buying
Meanwhile, candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Silas Onu and his counterpart in the Labour Party (LP), Linus Okorie, have alleged voting buying in the bye-election.
Onu made this known at Obiozara ward, ishieke village Square polling unit in Ohaozara Local Government Area of Ebonyi State.
He accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of non-deployment of ad hoc staff to some polling units, even as he stated that accreditation and voting commenced very early.
He explained that there were attacks on the members of his party, as he noted irregularities and vote buying were observed across his Senatorial district. He called on the relevant authorities to rise up to their responsibilities.
On his part, Okorie complained of late arrival of election materials as he also noted that some voters were attacked by thugs, who disrupted voting process in some polling units.
The LP candidate spoke at Enuagu-Onicha ward, Isiama Town Hall Polling Unit 011 in the Onicha Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, where he cast his ballot.