Anambra LG poll: We’re over 90% ready for Saturday election – ANSIEC
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The Anambra State Independent Electoral Commission (ANSIEC) on Wednesday assured its near preparedness for Saturday’s local government Chairmanship and Councilorship election across the state.
Commissioner in charge of Information and Publicity, Chief Tony Nnalue, who gave the assurance in a press briefing, said the election would hold in all 21 Local government areas and 326 wards in the state.
He said preparations for the exercise, which started last February, were almost getting to its peak.
According to him, evacuation of non-sensitive materials to the various locations has commenced, while the sensitive materials would be moved to the areas where they were needed as early as 7.30am on Saturday.
“Voting will commence by 8.00am in all the voting centres across the state. We encourage eligible voters to come out to exercise their franchise,” he added.
The Commissioner further revealed that two political parties, the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and the Young Progressive Party (YPP) that indicated interest would be participating in the exercise.
He said, “We screened about 346 councilorship candidates and 22 mayoral candidates for the election. We also procured electoral materials.
“The adhoc team recruited for the exercise have undergone training, which was conducted on a zonal basis. The last training for the collation officers and SPOS is ongoing.
“This special training was borne out of peculiarities of the election. All the local governments where a single candidate is contesting will witness a yes-or-no ballot. When a mayoral candidate emerges unopposed, that’s not an automatic victory.
“The law says, if only one candidate emerges unopposed during the primary, he’ll contest the election as the single candidate. Instead of the ballot showing different parties, it will show yes-or-no options.
“A yes-or-no ballot simply means that it’s the duty of the parties to nominate their candidates, but it is the right of the electorate to decide whether the candidate is accepted by them.
“Emerging victorious at the primary doesn’t give you an automatic win. The candidate must be tested by the electorate through their yes-or-no options.
“At the end of the voting, the results would be collected by collation officers and counted. If the number of votes for yes outweighs that of no, and the candidate garnered two-thirds of the votes, he will be declared the winner.
“Conversely, if the number of no votes outweighs that of yes, the candidate loses, and the election will be declared inconclusive. The floor would be opened again for another fresh primary.
“This is the first time this will be conducted in the state. We’re glad to be the first team and state to execute it.”
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