.png)
By Madu Obi
The Anambra State Independent Electoral Commission (ANSIEC) has said that it only recognizes the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) for the September 28 local government poll, explaining that it has nothing to do with the factions of the party led by Edozie Njoku and Sly Ezeokenwa.
ANSIEC Commissioner for Information and Logistics, Sir Anthony Nnalue, made the clarification during a sensitization programme organized by the International Peace and Civil Responsibility Centre (IPCRC) for accredited election observers and media personnel.
Although the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) recognized Edozie Njoku as the national chairman of APGA, Nnalue said that does not affect the local government poll.
According to him, the crisis is party's internal matter, explaining that the Commission is fully prepared for the election as adequate security has been put in place, while materials and other logistics are in place.
Nnalue expressed concerns about the reliability of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) deployed by INEC, stating that ANSIEC had opted for manual accreditation for the election.
He said that nonsensitive materials were already on the way to the local government areas ahead of the poll to ensure early arrival of materials at the polling units
He said,: ”We’re fully prepared and ready for the Saturday election, in terms of security, materials and other logistics.
We urge the electorate to come out en masse and vote as your vote will count. We’re not going to use BIVAS in the election because of its unreliability, but we will use the voters’ register for the exercise.
One good thing about the LG election is that the voters are familiar with the candidates and will vote according to their credentials.
Power is acquired, not on sympathy basis. If you work assiduously and win, we don’t have option than to declare you winner. regardless of the party."
He added that arrangements had been made to bring down voters in crisis-prone areas of the state to their local government headquarters to cast their votes on Saturday.
Coordinator of IPCRC, Prince Chris Azor cautioned participants to be alert and avoid confrontations, stressing the need for collaborative efforts to prevent electoral violence and ensure a smooth voting process.
He warned election observers not to announce results, saying, “only the electoral management body has the exclusive right to announce results."
Comments