The All Progressives Congress has been declared the winner of the Imo North bye-election held on Saturday but without returning a candidate.
The INEC returning officer, Hakeem Adikum, who quickly rose after announcing the results scored by various political parties and their candidates, simply said “I hereby return the All Progressives Congress as the winner of the bye-election held in Imo North on Saturday, December 5.”
The Returning Officer announced that APC scored 36,811 votes, while Emmanuel Okewulonu of the People Democratic Party came second with 31,903 votes.
According to Adikum, APC won in five out of the six Local Government Areas in the senatorial district while PDP won in one LGA.
The INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner in Imo state, Prof Francis Ezeonu, told journalists that the commission was unable to return a particular candidate from APC because of several court orders for and against Senator Ararume and Chief Frank Ibezim of the APC.
