John Nwosu, the governorial candidate for the African Democratic Congress (ADC), has denounced the results of Saturday’s Anambra election, calling it a “ruse and total subversion of the people’s will.”
With 422,664 votes, Governor Chukwuma Soludo of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) was proclaimed the poll’s winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Sunday.
Nwosu came in fifth with 8,208 votes, while Nicholas Ukachukwu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) came in second with 99,445 votes.
Nwosu said in a post-election statement that the entire process was tainted by rampant vote buying.
Voters were openly bought off with payments ranging from ₦3,000 to ₦20,000 in nearly every polling place, transforming the entire process from a democratic exercise to a bazaar.
He declared, “This is a national embarrassment and a direct assault on the integrity of our democracy; it was a loss for democracy and a win bought with cash.”
“True victory is judged not by the outcome but by the integrity of the process,” Nwosu emphasized.
“The voice of the people cannot and will never be represented by an election rife with corruption, manipulation, and vote trading,” he declared.
If Nigeria really wanted a rich and just country, the ADC candidate also demanded that the “culture of electoral corruption” be abolished.
Nwosu cautioned that when votes are bought, the future is surrendered, saying that the “conscience of our democracy had been wounded.”
He stated, “What we saw was the glaring triumph of desperation and greed over the principles of justice and fairness, not the expression of choice.”
Additionally, the lawmaker thanked his campaign team and party members for remaining steadfast in the face of “intimidation and inducement.”
