Not buying votes made me lost my polling unit – LP’s Moghalu

George Moghalu, Labour Party (LP) candidate in the Anambra governorship election, has attributed his defeat in his own polling unit in Uruagu Ward 1, Nnewi North LGA, to widespread vote-buying.

At polling unit 017, which has 463 registered voters, only 86 were accredited for the November 8 election. Chukwuma Soludo of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) led the unit with 57 votes, while Moghalu secured 22.

Speaking on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics on Sunday, Moghalu said he could not compete financially with other candidates and therefore refused to engage in vote-buying.

He noted that many voters in his unit succumbed to cash inducements due to economic hardship.

“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,” he said, adding, “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.”

Moghalu specifically accused APGA of orchestrating most of the alleged vote-buying, claiming that several party agents, including a commissioner caught on camera, were seen buying votes in his constituency.

He argued that the election did not reflect the true will of the people and insisted he would have won if the process had been free, fair, and devoid of cash inducements.

INEC declared Soludo the winner with 422,664 votes. Nicholas Ukachukwu of the APC came second with 99,445 votes, followed by Paul Chukwuma of the YPP with 37,753 votes.

Moghalu placed fourth with 10,576 votes, while ADC’s John Nwosu and PDP’s Jude Ezenwafor received 8,208 and 1,401 votes respectively.

The off-cycle election experienced logistical delays, including late arrival of INEC officials and security personnel in some units, alongside reports of BVAS glitches and widespread vote-buying across the state. Out of over 2.8 million registered voters, only 598,229 were accredited, with total votes cast at 595,298 and valid votes at 584,054.

Journalists and observers reported numerous incidents of vote trading and transactional arrangements at polling units, with leading candidates acknowledging such reports while accusing rivals of perpetrating the acts.