Anambra poll: Protests as Obiano maintains lead
About
200 women from the 21 local government areas in Anambra State on
Sunday protested the conduct of Saturday’s governorship election
in the state.
They said the election was not credible and called for its cancellation and conduct of a fresh one.
The women, who carried leaves ,
expressed their disappointment with the Chairman of the Independent
National Electoral Commission, Prof. Attahiru Jega.
They rolled repeatedly on the road
leading to the INEC office chanting , “Jega has failed us,’ and ‘He
should resign or be removed.”
A combined team of police officers and soldiers resisted their attempts to gain entry into the INEC premises.
Infuriated , the women, who gathered
at Arroma Junction and marched through the Alex Ekwueme, rained
abuses on the policemen and soldiers.
Spokesperson for the protesters, Mrs.
Angela Akukalia, said many people were disenfranchised as their names
were not found on the voter registers.
She said, “The election materials were not even available in most polling units across the state.
“In areas where they were available, they arrived so late and by then, most people had gone home.
“Even the rescheduled election in
Idemili North was fixed on a Sunday when most people go to church and
would not be around to vote.
“This was a scientific way to rig the election. Jega has failed us. He has shown he is not capable.”
She added that the “election should be
cancelled because it is beyond Idemili North’’ where the rerun poll in
65 polling units held on Sunday.
Before the protest by the women, three
candidates for the election closed ranks to kick against the conduct
of the exercise that their All Progressives Grand Alliance
counterpart, Chief Willie Obiano, was leading in 20 councils as of
Sunday evening.
The candidates – Senator Chris Ngige of
the All Progressive Congress, Tony Nwoye, Peoples Democratic Party; and
Ifeanyi Ubah, Labour Party, at a joint press conference in Awka,
called on INEC to stop further announcement of the results because
of alleged widespread irregularities.
They claimed that the conduct of rerun
election in some polling units in Idemili North Local Government Area
was a waste of time.
“They can do any amount of voting they
like. But subject to consultations with the leadership of our parties,
no result should be announced. A word is enough for the wise,” Ngige,
Nwoye and Ubah said in a five-page statement.
They insisted that fraudulent
practices and massive irregularities that greeted the election on
Saturday had made it to fall substantially below the requirements of
the Electoral Act.
They said the parties were deceived by
the INEC Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, who told them on Wednesday
that the voter register was perfect .
The candidates also alleged massive security lapse, which gave room for the intimidation of their supporters and agents.
They further alleged that there was a
massive deployment of Anambra State government funds in all the polling
units to buy votes.
Their statement added, “Some of the voters were paid as much as N10,000.
“Having noted these points and having
noted the compromising stance of INEC officials, we have come to the
inevitable conclusion that this commission (INEC) is determined to go
back to its old ways.”
- Rerun poll boycotted
They had before briefing journalists
announced that they had boycotted the rerun election in in 65 wards in
Idemili North on Sunday.
The election was cancelled in the
wards because election materials could not be delivered there on
Saturday, the day of the poll.
INEC deferred declaration of all the finals result until those of the rerun were collated.
As of 12 midnight, electoral officers were seen arriving at the INEC office in Awka.
One of them told The PUNCH that the final result might not be ready until 3 am.
Ngige and Nwoye had earlier on Sunday morning also complained about the conduct of the poll and called for its cancellation.
While the APC candidate had the backing
of the national leadership of his party, Nwoye seemed to be acting
alone as the PDP headquarters said it was satisfied with the conduct
of the election.
- APGA praises election conduct
APGA however praised the conduct of the election and said INEC had fulfilled its promise to make it the best ever.
“We are satisfied with the way INEC has
conducted this exercise so far. We are thoroughly satisfied with the
conduct of the security agencies,” the National Chairman of the party,
Chief Victor Umeh, said.
Umeh accused those that have questioned the credibility of the election of not being agents of the truth.
He added that they were complaining because it had become clear to them that they would lose.
On the allegations that APGA rigged the
process with INEC, Umeh said, “We will never rig election in this
state. We believe in due process. We believe in the rule of law.”
- Poll fell below standard–Situation room
But, the Nigeria Civil Society Election
Situation Room, a coalition of 40 civil society organisations that
monitored the election, said it fell short of standards.
In a statement on Sunday, the
organisation noted that poor deployment of logistics, materials,
and incompetence of many polling officials contributed to the problems
that affected the poll.
The statement by the leader of the
group, Mr. Tunji Lardner, added, “INEC’s conduct of the governorship
election in Anambra State poses serious concerns ahead of the 2015
general elections and the Situation Room calls on INEC to change its
strategy with a view to improving on its preparations for the 2015
elections.”
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