INEC Concludes Anambra Governorship Election With Three Leading Parties

The three leading political parties in the Anambra State governorship election, the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC), are upbeat for today’s supplementary polls in Ihiala Council called by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

For contest in today’s rerun election are about 148,407 registered voters in Ihiala, which the candidates would chase to either maintain a lead or improve their rating.

The Commission, yesterday, began mobilisation of sensitive and non-sensitive materials to ensure a hitch-free exercise, even as joint security patrols increased in communities of the council.

Following the results declared by INEC on Sunday in 20 local government areas, APGA’s candidate, Prof Charles Soludo, is leading in 18 with a total of 103,946 votes, followed by PDP’s Val Ozigbo with 51,322 and APC’s Andy Uba with 42,942.

INEC, yesterday, announced a slight adjustment in the rerun election. According to the Commission, voting will commence by 10:00 a.m. today and end by 4:00 p.m. INEC National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye, made this known in a statement.

He said: “Following the suspension of collation of results in respect of the Anambra governorship election as announced on Sunday by the State Collation/Returning Officer and the decision of the Commission to hold election in Ihiala Local Government Area on Tuesday, the Commission, in line with extant rules and regulations, has made a slight adjustment to the commencement and closing time for the election.

“Accordingly, polling in respect of the supplementary election will commence at 10:00 a.m. and end at 4:00 p.m.

“This decision, which will be strictly complied with, has been taken following a careful review of the prevailing situation in the state and is being widely shared with the stakeholders including security agencies.”

An INEC official told The Guardian on condition of anonymity yesterday that efforts were in top gear to make the Ihiala election as transparent as possible. “We know what it takes and what is at stake, so we will not compromise on our integrity.”

A community leader in Uli, one of the towns in Ihiala Council, Chief Damian Okafor, said yesterday: “We are ready for the election. At the moment, voting materials are not in the ward but they may have brought them to the local government headquarters from where it would be distributed tomorrow (today).

“We are noticing increased patrol of joint security in the communities. The truth is that there was security already on the ground even before Saturday’s election. We are hopeful that it will remain this way.”

The situation at Okija and Isseke towns, also in Ihiala Council, was calm yesterday, even as the alleged arrest of an INEC official, who attempted to compromise the election on Saturday, was discussed in various quarters.

The official, said to hail from Enugwu Ukwu in Njikoka Council of the state, was reported to have accepted a result written by a controversial politician and his cohorts, promising to submit it into the system but was caught in the process. New set of officials have been assigned to conduct the process.

PDP’s candidate, Ozigbo, trailing behind Soludo by over 52,000 votes, has, however, expressed optimism that Ihiala rerun poll is capable of upturning PDP fortunes, adding that all hope was not lost in the party winning the election. He secured the second highest votes in the election and won only one of the 20 LGAs where elections held.

Ozigbo expressed the confidence that the votes from the rescheduled election would improve PDP’s position. He told newsmen at a press briefing yesterday in Awka that PDP could still coast to victory in view of the number of registered voters in the area, which exceeded the number of votes APGA was leading with.

“In Ihiala alone, we have about 148,000 registered voters. Other areas where supplementary elections will be held such as Awka North, Orumba North, Idemili North etc, have over 100,000 registered voters. I wish to use this medium to tell all our teeming supporters, stakeholders and the generality of Anambra voters that it’s not yet over. Please turn out in your numbers to show us solidarity and support.”

While lamenting that the overwhelming percentage of voters in Saturday’s poll could not vote due to malfunctioning of the Biomodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines, Ozigbo commended INEC for digitalising the voting process, and urged the electoral umpire to ensure voters were not disenfranchised in the rescheduled polls.

The state government, also yesterday, asked residents of Ihiala Council to go out and cast their votes, assuring that adequate arrangements had been made for their protection.

A statement by Secretary to the State Government, Prof Solo Chukwulobelu, said: “This is to inform the public, particularly residents and voters in Ihiala that the state government is working with relevant security agencies to provide adequate

security arrangements to protect life and property during the election. All are encouraged to come and vote for the candidate of their choice.

“As Ndi Ihiala may have observed, elections were successfully and peacefully held in the other 20 local government areas and INEC has duly announced the results. No incidence of violence or voter molestation was recorded on Saturday.

“As a reminder, IPOB had previously cancelled the sit-at-home order earlier announced and encouraged Ndi Anambra to come out and vote. Anambra will continue to remain the light of the nation.”

THERE were, however, reports of disenchantment in the camp of the APC, following alleged calls for the resignation of the state chairman, Basil Ejidike, and the insistence by a faction of the party that it had no candidate in the election.

Responding to the allegations, the state Publicity Secretary of the party, Chief Okeluo Madukaife, said: “I have not seen anybody who said that the chairman should quit. So that settles that.”

On allegations that the party had no candidate, he added:

“It is always good to put some of these things in perspective, so you can take the facts away. What this simply means is that one of the aspirants who were aggrieved went to court and in the court, he is asking as a matter of prayer that the party should be delisted. The court has not pronounced but you can understand when people position their own views out of what they hope for.

“In this election, we are not giving up. It is an ongoing election. We are not scared despite the outcome in 20 local government areas. We are in the winning bracket. That is what is important and we intend to continue till the end.”