Senate to INEC: Ensure credible poll in Anambra

Senate to INEC: Ensure credible poll in Anambra

ON November 11, 2017 6:40 AM / IN News / BY Ugoh Solomon Chinonso
By Vincent Ujumadu
THE Senate Committee on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has charged the Commission to ensure transparency and credibility in the conduct of the November 18 Anambra State governorship election.

President of the Nigerian 8th Senate, Dr. Bukola Saraki
Chairman of the Committee, Senator Suleiman Nafiz, who led members of the committee on a visit to Anambra State in connection with the election, warned against conducting an inconclusive election, saying INEC must ensure a credible exercise.
Nafiz, with other members of the Committee, including Senators Mao Ohuabunwa and Aliu Sabi, also held a meeting with INEC officials and chairmen and secretaries of various political parties at the INEC headquarters in Awka
He said: “I want the leadership of INEC to ensure that Anambra governorship election is conclusive, free, fair and credible. This is necessary because the credibility of the Anambra governorship election will serve as a litmus test for the 2019 general elections, urging INEC to ensure level playing ground for all the political parties contesting the poll.
“The Commission should be neutral so that the outcome of the election will be acceptable to all. The political gladiators in the state should also allow peace to reign during and after the election.”
Senator Nazif said the members were in the state to find out the challenges of INEC in respect to Saturday’s election and to put heads together with them towards proffering solutions to them.
Appealing to politicians to ensure peace, Nazif further observed that the election should not be a “do-or-die affair,” stressing that their conduct and utterances before, during and after the poll should be guided by democratic principles.
He assured the people of the state to disregard threats from certain quarters, adding that the governorship election would hold as scheduled notwithstanding some insinuations in some quarters that it would not hold.
He urged security operatives to ensure peaceful atmosphere during and after the election, adding that their presence was important to the successful outcome of the poll.
The INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner, in the state Dr Nkwachukwu Orji observed that the state was second in the country in terms of the collection of permanent voter’s cards, stressing that the collection of the cards would end on the 15th of this month.
He said the Commission would be deploying one card reader machine per voting point and field technical officers who would handle any challenges arising from the malfunctioning of the card readers.
Orji also reiterated the commitment of the Commission to conduct free, fair, credible and acceptable election to the people of the state.
At the meeting, some of the governorship candidates and party chairmen raised some issues and the challenges they were facing in the course of their campaigns. Among them were alleged discovery of INEC materials in a hotel, the selective debate being planned by a television station, IPOB propaganda of no election, alleged purchase of voters cards by some politicians at a fee and uncollected PVCs.