Aba Bye-Election: APC Candidate Accept Defeat
The candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC Aba North/Aba South Federal Constituency bye-election, Mascot Kalu, has said he accepts the outcome of Saturday’s poll, after the returning Officer, Prof. Fidelis Okpata, announced the result of the poll.
Kalu emerged second after the poll with 3,674 votes to trail behind the winner, Chimaobi Ebisike, a candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party PDP, who polled 10,592.
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Meanwhile, the candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, Destiny Nwagwu, emerged third with a total of 1,584 votes.
The APC candidate said he has ruled out legal action to challenge the result but however noted that he had enough evidence to do so.
In a message made available to newsmen in Abia, he stated: “Even though we have enough evidence to reclaim our mandate, we won’t be going to court.
“This is to allow the winner to concentrate and provide good representation and infrastructure to the good people of Aba.
“Once again, I thank the Aba people for coming out en masse to vote for the APC and I congratulate the winner, Chimaobi Ebisike and PDP.
“It is not because they won but because it is gentlemanly to do so.”
On his part, the Chief Whip of the Senate and former Abia governor, Sen. Orji Kalu, has decried the level of thuggery, violence and rigging that allegedly witnessed the poll.
Kalu who described the development as unfortunate called for “a deeper review of our electoral laws.
According to him, “Every country is peculiar to its people. Nigerians should support the electoral law being amended because it will help us to strengthen our democracy.
“The Electoral Act as it is renders the security agencies with arms weak in the face of violence at the polls and therefore needs a revisit,” Kalu added.
He stated that the election was over and appealed to APC members and his supporters “to accept the outcome of the election in good faith.
“While the opposition wanted the election at all cost, we chose life over bloodshed and therefore won lives and lost the polls. To us, that was a greater victory,” Kalu stated.
