The leader of an observer group in Saturday’s governorship election in Anambra State has described the incidents that led to the irregularities in the election as confusing, insisting on a total cancelation of the election.
The president of the Voters Awareness Initiative, Mr Wale Ogunade, told Channels Television on Thursday that the incidents he saw in Anambra State had kept him wondering: “What went wrong”.
He said that his team met with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the State few days before the election.
According to him, the INEC officers in Akwa told a press conference that they had done everything they should do to ensure that the election was successful.
“They were beating their chests that this time around they will get it right,” he explained.
Delayed Delivery Of Materials
On the day of the election, the team witnessed a situation he described as ‘non-compliance to standards’.
“We were at various villages early in the morning on Saturday and nothing was happening.
“We decided we wanted to turn back to the headquarters of the local governments and then we saw them coming around 9:00am local time.
“We asked them what happened and they told us that ‘they were delayed’. By who? we asked and they said; ‘we were delayed’.
“All the 21 Local Government Areas, nowhere did election start by 8:00am local time as stated in the schedule,” he explained.
“But driving here now, I am still thinking; ‘what went wrong’?
He stated that the observer team had advocated that INEC should move all non-sensitive materials before the election to reduce the stress on the election day.
“We saw them moving materials out before the election day.
“What went wrong, I can’t say,” he said in bewilderment.
He also said that the disappearance of names from the register was another discrepancy that threw spanner in the works.
Mr. Ogunade said that the observer group was surprised to witness delay in the commencement of the accreditation in all the 21 Local Government Areas on Saturday, despite the distribution of non-sensitive materials days before the election as advocated.
