‘I Couldn’t Afford to Buy Votes’ — LP’s Moghalu Explains Loss in His Polling Unit

George Moghalu, the Labour Party (LP) candidate in the Anambra governorship election, has explained why he lost in his polling unit, stating that he “refused to get involved” in vote-buying.

At polling unit 017 in Uruagu Ward 1, Nnewi north LGA, Chukwuma Soludo of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) led the unit with 57 votes, while Moghalu secured 22 votes.

Speaking on Channels Television’s ‘Sunday Politics’, Moghalu said he could not match the cash offered by other candidates.

“Yes, because I couldn’t afford how much that was being paid. I couldn’t pay, and I refused to pay, I refused to get involved,” Moghalu said when asked if his loss was related to vote-buying.

He added that many voters in his polling unit “succumbed to the lure of money” due to their financial difficulties.

“So, they have too much money to buy votes, and what do you expect my people to do? They fell because a lot of them are poor,” he said.

Moghalu “specifically accused the ruling party in Anambra” (APGA) of orchestrating most of the alleged vote-buying activities, claiming several party agents seen “wearing APGA tags” were arrested.

“Some of them are on record as having been seen purchasing votes. There’s even a commissioner who was also caught on camera buying votes in my particular constituency,” Moghalu said.

The LP candidate further said the Anambra governorship election “did not reflect the will of the people” and insisted he would have won if the election had been “free, fair, and devoid of cash inducements.”

On Sunday, INEC declared Soludo the winner of the election after polling 422,664 votes. Moghalu placed fourth with 10,576 votes.

The off-cycle election was reportedly marked by widespread incidents of vote-buying, low voter turnout, and several cases of BVAS glitches.