An observer group, Centre for Transparency Advocacy (CTA), has commended Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for giving priority to the elderly, pregnant women and persons with disabilities (PWDs) during the Saturday Anambra governorship election.
The CTA Election Experts Team Lead, Alex Asigbo, gave the commendation while giving a report on preliminary findings on the governorship election in Awka on Saturday after monitoring the process in the 21 local government areas.
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Mr Asigbo said that CTA observers found out that the ruling All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) deployed 100 per cent to the polling units, with APC 93.8 per cent and Labour Party 37 per cent respectively.
“Many of the political parties failed to deploy agents to several polling units, leaving the process largely unmonitored,” he said.
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Mr Asigbo said that lack of presence of party agents at polling units not only created gaps in transparency but reflected a deeper problem of lack of commitment of politicians to invest in credible electoral practices.
It said that INEC officials and materials arrived late in many polling units, resulting in late opening of polls in many polling units, with 68 per cent of polling units opening 8:25 to 9 a.m, while about 31 per cent of the polling units commenced 8:30 a.m. and 10:00 a.m.
The group deplored the conditions of some of the vehicles hired for the election which, it said, refused to pick up other INEC officials to polling units after making their initial drop-off, thus further contributing to delays.
“Our observers reported that INEC officials, in line with the electoral guidelines, gave preferences to pregnant women, nursing mothers, PWDs and the elderly.
“Observation across polling units showed that the BVAS worked well in over 80 per cent of the polling units, except for a few cases where some voters were not accredited by BVAS or whose names were not on the register where they presented themselves.
“CTA notes that INEC is yet to resolve its logistics challenge, as earlier highlighted in our pre-election press briefing.
“Despite assurances from the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), observers reported that logistics arrangements, including vehicle deployment, were inadequate,” he said.
Mr Asigbo said that the low turnout might have been influenced by voter apathy, security concerns and doubts about the credibility of the electoral process as well as lack of interest in the election.
He commended the efficiency of INEC’s process but deployed what it considered premature conclusion and announcement of election results.
“There were reported cases of ad hoc staff closing polls and announcing results at 2:19 p.m. as against the INEC stipulated time of 2:30 p.m, an action which may have disenfranchised some eligible voters.
“However, as at 4:48 p.m, 3,861 results had been uploaded to iREV, representing 67 per cent
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“We charged citizens to take civic duty very seriously. INEC and political parties must also take civil and voter education very seriously to educate citizens.
“CTA commends the citizens for conducting themselves peacefully and in accordance with voting guidelines.
“Political parties and their candidates played a noticeably limited role in strengthening the electoral process during the Anambra election,” he said
.(NAN)
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