The Imo State Independent Electoral Commission has declared that the All Progressives Congress (APC) won all 27 local government chairmanship seats and 305 wards and councillorship seats in the just-concluded local government elections in the state.
The Chairman of the Commission, Charles Ejiogu, made this declaration at the commission’s headquarters in Owerri, the Imo State capital, on Monday.
According to him, the election, which he said was conducted in line with the state electoral laws and guidelines, was credible, free and fair.
In a swift reaction, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state described the election as a fraudulent exercise and rape of democratic principles.
While the APC chairman in the state, Macdonald Ebere, congratulated all the APC candidates for emerging victorious, he described allegations by opposition PDP as baseless.
It is expected that the 27 LG chairmen and 305 councillors would receive their certificates of return and would be sworn in. Imo State has an APC governor Hope Uzodimma in office.
Over 15 states have announced or held local government elections in the last two months since the Supreme Court granted financial autonomy to the third tier of government, ordering the Federal Government to pay the 20.60% monthly allocation of the 774 LGs in the country directly to their exclusive accounts and not to accounts controlled by governors.
The apex court in the landmark judgement in July also barred power-drunk governors from dissolving democratically elected local government councils.
