The Labour Party candidate in the just-concluded Anambra State governorship election, George Moghalu, has opened up on why he did not win in his polling unit.

He blamed his loss in his polling unit on vote-buying by some of the contenders.

In an interview on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics, Moghalu said that he could not afford to match the amount of money other candidates were offering voters, and as a result, he refused to engage in vote-buying.

He added that many voters in his polling unit succumbed to the temptation of money due to their financial struggles.

“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 in the polling unit was related to vote-buying.

“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.”

Moghalu specifically accused the ruling party in Anambra, the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) of being the main culprit behind the alleged vote-buying activities.

He claimed that several party agents, some of whom had been arrested for vote-buying, were seen wearing APGA party tags.

“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 claimed.

‘Poll Results Not Voters Will’

The LP candidate further stated that the Anambra State governorship election did not reflect the will of the people.

He insisted that he would have won the election if it had been free and fair, without the influence of vote-buying.

Soludo was returned for a second term in office after recording a landslide victory, winning in all 21 local government areas in the election, according to results declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Sunday.

The victory makes the professor the third governor in Anambra’s political history to win a second term.

Soludo secured 422,664 votes to defeat his closest rival, Nicholas Ukachukwu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who polled 99,445 votes.

Paul Chukwuma of the Young Progressives Party (YPP) came third with 37,753 votes, while John Nwosu of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) scored 8,208 votes.

George Moghalu of the Labour Party (LP) and Jude Ezenwafor of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) polled 10,576 and 1,401 votes, respectively. (Channels TV)