ADC’s Nwosu rejects Anambra governorship election results, alleges widespread vote buying

John Nwosu, candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in the Anambra governorship election, has rejected the outcome of the poll, describing it as a “ruse and total subversion of the people’s will.”

On Sunday, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Governor Chukwuma Soludo winner of the election with 422,664 votes. Nicholas Ukachukwu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) came second with 99,445 votes, while Nwosu finished fifth with 8,208 votes.

In a statement issued after the announcement, Nwosu alleged that the election was marred by widespread vote buying and financial inducement at polling units across the state.

“In almost every polling unit, voters were openly induced with cash ranging from N3,000 to N20,000, turning the entire process into a marketplace rather than a democratic exercise,” he said. “This is a national embarrassment and a direct assault on the integrity of our democracy; it was a win bought with cash and a loss for democracy.”

He maintained that “true victory is judged not by the outcome but by the integrity of the process.”

“An election riddled with corruption, manipulation, and vote trading cannot and will never represent the voice of the people,” Nwosu added.

Calling for an end to what he described as a “culture of electoral corruption,” the ADC candidate warned that the conscience of the nation had been “wounded” by the conduct of the poll.

“When votes are bought, the future is sold,” he said. “What we witnessed was not the expression of choice, but the glaring triumph of desperation and greed over the principles of justice and fairness.”

Nwosu also thanked members of his party and campaign team for standing firm in the face of what he termed “intimidation and inducement.”