Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Joash Amupitan, has been advised to do everything in his power to deliver a free and fair election in the Anambra governorship election scheduled for Saturday, stating that no excuses for failure would be accepted from his end.
Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Kayode Adeluola, while speaking on Channels Television’s special programme, Anambra Decides 2025, on Saturday, noted that although Amupitan had just been newly appointed, all eyes were on him to conduct a credible poll.
“We have a new INEC Chairman, SAN Amupitan, and this is his first test of fire. He has given us assurance that the election will be conducted in transparency.
“Those are promises. But my concern is that- has he had ample time to review the election materials? Has he made sure that what should be done has been done, and what should not be done will be avoided, to the extent that we all, including him, can beat our chest that we get an election that we shall all be proud of?
“There was even an accord meeting among the candidates, and they assured us that everything would go according to plan.
“Anambra people are also very enlightened people, and we are sure the election will be peaceful.
“I will be willing to cut Amupitan some slack, particularly because if we find just administrative issues. I don’t have any reason to doubt the person of Professor because he is an upright person, and we can expect the best election process. However, when it comes to other election officials in various states, they are the people who have conducted elections, and people have complained.
“Elections are very touchy issues for us in Nigeria, and many people see it as a do-or-die thing. Not many people will want to accept excuses and reasons from Amupitan.
“We understand that we have about 40-45,000 policemen on the ground. But security is not technology. There should be ways to monitor the areas, especially where there have been records of violence, which can hinder people from going out to vote.
“Voter apathy will be recorded when people think they are not safe to go out, or that their votes will not count.”
“We cannot continue to have an election where no one will be sure of getting credible results.”
READ ALSO: Anambra Poll: Residents Peaceful, Have Little To Worry About Security — CSO
According to INEC, 2,802,790 registered voters are expected to vote across 5,718 polling units in the state’s 21 local government areas.
The election will be held across three senatorial districts, with sixteen candidates contesting.
Prominent contenders include Governor Chukwuma Soludo of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Nicholas Ukachukwu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Paul Chukwuma of the Young Progressives Party (YPP), George Moghalu of the Labour Party (LP), and Jude Ezenwafor of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
