By Emmanuel Oloniruha
Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has expressed concerns over the dwindling number of voters in Anambra, urging the people of the state to use the Saturday governorship election to change the narrative of voter apathy in the state.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, at the Anambra commission’s election stakeholders’ meeting in Abuja on Wednesday, urged the people to say ‘No’ to vote-buying and all forms of election rigging.
According to him, the success of the election depends not just on INEC’s readiness but on the active participation of the citizens.
“The greatest threat to democracy is indifference,” he said, adding that any citizen who refused to vote had no right to complain.
Amupitan said that from the antecedents, even from the Second Republic, Anambra had been a hotbed of elections and politics in Nigeria, stressing, however, that statistics of voting in the state over the years had been dwindling.
“This is not what we desire for this election.
“That is why it’s very important for those that have taken the pain to register and have their voters’ cards, to please come out and vote on Nov. 8.
“If I give you the statistics of votes coming from Anambra in the past years, it’s very discouraging. So Anambra is supposed to be one of the leaders of the states in Nigeria. So what has gone wrong? What has gone wrong?” he wondered.
While stating that INEC’s responsibility was to ensure inclusivity in the electoral process, Amupitan urged religious leaders and civil society organisations to help rekindle the people’s interest in the election and democracy.
He said that following the conclusion of the voter registration exercise and subsequent clean-up of the database, INEC had, on Sept. 4, approved a final register of 2,802,790 voters for the governorship election.
Amupitan noted that a total of 168,187 new registrations were recorded across the 326 wards in the state.
“After the mandatory display for claims and objections, and further Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS) screening, 27,817 invalid multiple entries were removed, leaving 140,370 valid new voters.
“Additionally, 5,983 transfers were approved,” he said.
The INEC chairman added that while only 63.9 per cent of voters had collected their PVCs, the commission extended the PVC collection period from Oct. 29 to Nov. 2 as part of measures to enable all eligible voters collect their cards.
He said that the uncollected PVCs had been kept with Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) until after the election.
Amupitan stated that INEC, in collaboration with TAFAfrica, had also approved deployment of sign language interpreters across polling units in Anambra to allow the 3,456 registered voters with disabilities in the state to exercise their civic rights.
He assured that INEC was fully prepared for the election, stressing that Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) would be deployed for voter authentication and upload of results to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV).
He added that INEC had done a test-run of its election technologies ahead of election day, with adequate technical staff members being deployed to handle any field challenge.
“To ensure seamless logistics, we have hired 2,233 buses from the National Association of Transport Owners (NATO) and the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), and 83 boats from the Maritime Union Workers of Nigeria (MUWN) for the movement of officials and sensitive materials,” he said.
This, according to him, is necessary to ensure that election materials are delivered on time, and polls start in all the 5,718 polling units by 8:30 a.m. on Nov. 8.
Addressing some of the concerns by the stakeholders, Yakubu said that the commission would be in full control of its election results collation system, assuring that no collation would be done outside the designated centres.
He also assured stakeholders that if any BVAS at the polling units didn’t work, the commission would postpone the election.
Amupitan also disclosed that the commission accredited 114 observer groups, while 76 media organisations deployed over 500 journalists for the exercise.
On his part, Dr Ken Ukeagu, Supervising National Commissioner in Charge of Anambra, said that no fewer than 24,000 ad hoc personnel would be deployed for the election, adding that training of staffets would be completed on Tuesday.
Ukeagu stated that configuration of 6,879 BVAS for the election had been completed, adding that it comprised 5,718 for main Pus, 183 for split Pus and 978 as backup devices.
He added that RACs would be activated across the state at noon on Friday, noting that all non-sensitive materials had been received in the council areas, batched and ready to be moved to the RACs.
“Sensitive materials have been produced and will be delivered to LGA on Thursday, Nov. 6. The delivery of sensitive materials to LGAs will be witnessed by relevant stakeholders,” he said.
Ukeagu assured the people of Anambra that the outcome of the state governorship election would reflect the will of the people.
He said INEC would neither act in favour nor against any political party or candidate, saying their guiding principle remained strict adherence to the constitution, the Electoral Act and the commission’s Regulations and Guidelines.
In her remarks, the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in the state, Dr Elizabeth Agwu, urged people to come out and vote for the candidates of their choice.
“We have numerous people to make our choice from. Choose whom you want. Come out and vote for the person and INEC will announce the person you voted for,” she said. (NAN)