Anambra Governorship Election: Residents anxious, Kukah warns against apathy as US threatens visa restrictions

Many fear-stricken people resident in the state, worried that violence could mar the election, are leaving for other states.

Some of them especially students of higher institutions said  they want to leave Anambra on or before November 4 (today) so as not to be caught by the seven-day sit-at-home declared by the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB.

The IPOB threatened penultimate week that its members would start a seven-day sit-at-home on November 5, if their detained Leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, was not released by the Federal Government on or before November 4.

Asked his stake on the issue of people leaving Anambra in fear, a top state government official told Vanguard, yesterday: ”I would if I could.

“The presence of security men is heavy. Almost overawing. I have been advised repeatedly by friends to flee but you know I can’t. It is a complete siege.

“The cops were shooting randomly into the air last night. There was no need for that. No threat of any kind.

“They were uncivil, ordering motorists about with cocked guns and firing into the air.

“I mean, the election will hold on Saturday but all this intimidation was happening on Tuesday night. Why wouldn’t residents flee?’

To fine-tune preparations for the poll, officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, and the various security agencies have been holding series of meetings since Tuesday evening.

In one of the stakeholders’ meetings yesterday, the Inspector General of Police, IGP, Mr. Usman Alkali Baba, assured the people of the state that the heavy deployment of security personnel for the election was not meant to scare voters but to reassure them.

Already, stern–looking security personnel have been deployed to the 326 wards and 5,720 polling units across the state.

Sirens blared ceaselessly by the policemen arriving from the various parts of the country attracted the attention of residents. The various political parties have asked their members to come out to vote despite the heavy security presence.

Eighteen political parties are presenting candidates for the election and last-minute consultations are ongoing in many hotels across the state.

The state headquarters of INEC has been barricaded and only those directly involved in the election are allowed to come near the office.

All hotels in Awka and other urban cities in the state have been fully booked, while many people went shopping to take care of the election period and the IPOB sit-at-home that will start on Friday.

In a related development, the Senior Elders’ Forum of the Yoruba Council of Elders, has warned the Federal Government and the INEC not to engage members of the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, as ad-hoc staff in the election.

Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Matthew Kukah, similarly said voter apathy in the Anambra governorship election will have severe consequences.

This is even as the United States has vowed to impose Visa restrictions on those stoking violence before, during and after the poll.

Addressing the stakeholders at the Dora Akunyili Women Development Centre, the IGP said: “This massive deployment is not designed to intimidate the law-abiding as being insinuated in some quarters.

“On the contrary, it is to re-assure them of adequate protection by deterring misguided political elements as well as non-state actors that might be bent on threatening the elections through acts of armed violence or other conducts that violate the provisions of the Electoral Act.

“It is to also serve as a strong warning that the government is determined to bring such subversive characters to justice should they advance their ignoble, undemocratic, and unpatriotic intents.

“The overriding objective of our operational action plan is to ensure an environment that is peaceful enough to encourage the law-abiding people of Anambra State to exercise their electoral franchise.

“The message here is clear. For the political actors and electorates that are law-abiding, they are fully assured of optimal security.

“However, for the destabilising elements and other deviants who despite all wise counsels are determined to deploy violence and other illegal means to advance their political interests or constitute a clog in the wheel of peaceful atmosphere for the election, they should be prepared for the consequences of their actions as they will be identified, isolated and decisively dealt with irrespective of their status, ideological inclinations or political affiliation

“All the security personnel to be deployed are under instructions to be guided by the Code of Conduct and Rules of Engagement for Security Personnel on Electoral Duty as developed jointly by INEC and security agencies.

“The document highlights the roles, ethics, and standard of operations of all security agents to be deployed on election security duties.

“Accordingly, all security agents are fully conscious of the fact that they are under an obligation to perform their functions within rule of law and civil dictates and that they could be held accountable for any professional conduct that negates the dictates of the Code of Conduct.

“Despite all these safeguards, it must be emphasized that the success of the electoral process is fundamentally dependent on the extent of national passion and responsibility that all the strategic political actors seated here today can exhibit. It is also dependent on their commitment to cooperating and supporting INEC and the security agencies towards advancing our democratic values.”

According to him, “No one is allowed to wear any cloth, emblem or colour signifying any political party to the polling units. No person is allowed to move around with security details around the polling units.

“Everyone is enjoined to vote and return to their respective houses or remain peacefully within approved perimeters of the polling centres, no one is allowed to move about from one polling unit to another, only INEC accredited Election Monitors/observers”.

 He assured all the people of Anambra State, Nigerians, and the international community of the firm commitment of security agencies to support INEC in delivering a free, fair, credible, and successful election in the State.

He also assured that the personnel of the Nigeria Police, as the lead agency in election security management, shall remain impartial, firm, accountable, and professional in the exercise of their statutory duties as provided for in the Electoral Act and other enabling laws.

“Praise singing, drumming, and dancing around the vicinity of polling unit are not allowed,” the IGP warned.

The National Chairman of the INEC, Professor Yakubu Mahmood  said yesterday in Awka that all election materials for Saturday’s governorship election are intact, dismissing insinuation in some quarters that the materials had been tampered with.

Mahmood, who addressed candidates participating in the election at an interactive session said the commission will invite the candidates, the media, election monitors, and other stakeholders to witness the deployment of the materials to local government areas on Friday.

He said: “Non-sensitive materials have been delivered to the 21 local government areas of the state. The sensitive materials are secure here in Awka.

“As is always the case on the eve of major elections, INEC will invite political parties, civil society organisations, and the media to the CBN on Thursday (today) 4th November 2021 to inspect the sensitive materials and to witness their movement to the various local government areas under security escort.

“By the same arrangement, the materials will be delivered to the Registration Areas or Wards on Friday 5th November 2021 to facilitate the opening of Polling Units at 8.30 am on Election Day i.e. Saturday 6th November 2021.

“I want to assure all voters in Anambra State that in designing the sensitive materials for the election, the Commission introduced additional visible and invisible security features, including different colour codes. Materials have also been customized by local government areas and polling units.

“Let me, therefore, warn those who may attempt to compromise the process that we have put in place sufficient safeguards to detect counterfeits.

“We are also determined to prosecute perpetrators of electoral malpractice, including any election duty staff found to be complicit.

“The choice of the next Governor of Anambra State is in the hands of the eligible voters and their will must prevail.”

He said that Anambra would be the first state where the BVAS would be deployed for a governorship election.

“On Saturday 6th November 2021, Anambra State will make history as the first governorship election in Nigeria in which the Commission will deploy the Biometric Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) device.

“This new device replaces the Smart Card Reader (SCR) used in previous elections since 2015.

“We are satisfied with the pilot deployment of the BVAS in the Isoko South I State Constituency bye-election in Delta State on 11th September 2021. The BVAS has the dual capacity for fingerprint and facial authentication of voters.

“This is to guard against voting by identity theft where one person uses another person’s Permanent Voter’s Card (PVC) to vote using the incident form.

“With this development, the use of the incident form is abolished. No voter without a genuine PVC will vote. No voter who has not been successfully accredited electronically using the BVAS will vote.

“At the same time, the BVAS is also equipped with a camera. Therefore, it can snap Polling Unit level  results and upload the same to the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal so that citizens can view results as the election is concluded in each Polling Unit.

“Therefore, there is no need for the Z-Pad since its functions have been embedded in the BVAS. I am glad to report that all the BVAS required for the election on Saturday have been configured and delivered to Anambra State.

“Election duty staff have also been trained on the use of the device and we have sufficient technical staff to respond to any glitches that may occur.”

He assured that the process would be credible, saying that in his avowed commitment to transparency, the Commission had compiled a comprehensive list of all the polling units without voters, as well as those having under 50 registered voters.

Don’t gamble with lives of NYSC members, YCE tells FG, INEC

Speaking through its former National President, Dansaaki Samuel Agbede, the YCE said that engaging the innocent youths whose parents have invested so much in, is tantamount to exposing them to danger.

Agbede said with the tense political atmosphere in the state and the crisis witnessed so far, the government should not gamble with the lives of these young graduates who have so much ahead of them.

He said: “Given the recurring crisis in the South-East especially with the threats of the IPOB, the government and INEC should look elsewhere for competent people without endangering the lives of these youths.”

Kukah, who spoke on Sunrise Daily, a Channels Television programme, yesterday, said voter apathy will be detrimental to the development of the state.

“Voter apathy is rampant across the world but voter apathy in Africa and Nigeria has consequences,” he said.

“It is not like the United States and other settled democracies where whether you vote or not, things happen to run on fine.

“Whether you elect the right person or not, it will not affect the level of education and health that they have in their environment.

“But for us in Nigeria and Africa, an election is war, a battle of life and survival. In part because if you vote for the wrong person, you could easily become a small dot in a big circle.

“You vote for the wrong person, you could easily end up with no road in your village, or school or health care facility.”

Kukah said the most important factor to consider in describing an election as free, fair, and credible is if there is no fatality.

“The most important parameter to consider the election a success is that nobody needs to lose their life,” he said.

“Too many Nigerians have died unnecessarily. The most important thing is to make sure that nobody loses their life, nobody suffers any unwanted injury.

“It is the responsibility of  INEC. The commission has a threshold that constitutes all we can consider free, fair, and credible elections.

“But for me, over and above the election won’t be free, fair, and credible if one person loses his life.”

A statement from the US Embassy said it is looking forward to a peaceful and transparent election, with results that accurately reflect the will of the state’s residents.

“We will be paying close attention to actions of individuals who interfere with the democratic process or instigate violence against civilian populations before, during, or after the elections.

“We will not hesitate to consider consequences – including visa restrictions – for those found to be responsible for election-related violence or undermining the democratic process.”