From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has revealed that it has made a slight adjustment to the commencement and closing time for the supplementary election in Ihiala Local Government Area today.
INEC, in a statement issued by National Commissioner and Chairman Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye, said it was in line with extant rules and regulations.
It announced that polling in respect of the supplementary election for Ihiala LG will by the new adjustment commence by 10 am and end at 4pm.
According to statement; “following the suspension of collation of results in respect of the 2021 Anambra State governorship election as announced on Sunday by the State Collation/Returning Officer and the decision of the Commission to hold election in Ihiala LGA on Tuesday, November 9, the Commission in line with extant rules and regulations has made a slight adjustment to the commencement and closing time for the said election.”
“Accordingly, polling in respect of the supplementary election for Ihiala Local Government will commence tomorrow at 10am and end at 4.00pm
“This decision, which will be strictly complied with, has been taken following a careful review of the prevailing situation in Anambra state and is being widely shared with the stakeholders including security agencies.
“We urge political parties, voters, election duty officials, election observers, the media and the general public to note this slight modification. We also appeal to citizens to conduct themselves in an orderly manner to ensure that the election is brought to a peaceful conclusion,” the statement read.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Sunday night suspended the Anambra election after releasing results of 20 out of the 21 LGAs, except Ihiala.
Meanwhile, the Executive Director, Centre for Transparency Advocacy (CTA), Ms Faith Nwadishi, has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to improve on the performance of the Bimodal Voters Authentication System (BVAS) in subsequent elections in the country.
Nwadishi who made the call in a statement in Abuja on Monday, urged the commission to note the several reasons why the BVAS malfunctioned and take steps to improve its performance in subsequent elections.
“We do hope that the free and fair process will be replicated during the collation process with the result expected to be electronically transmitted.”
… Election not yet over, still winnable –PDP
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in the ongoing Anambra governorship election, Valentine Ozigbo, has said the contest is not over and remains ‘winnable’ for him.
Ozigbo stated this while speaking at a news conference in Awka on Monday.
He expressed the hope that the PDP would close the gap if electoral officials and materials were effectively deployed on time for the supplementary election in Ihiala local government area slated for today.