Disenfranchised Voters In Nnewi, Calls For Cancelation Of Anambra LG Elections, Held ANSIEC Staff Hostage

Nnewi community in Anambra State have called for the cancellation of the September 28 local government election.

The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Chairman in Nnewi North, Mr Ifeamuma Nwafor Orizu declared that there was no voting in Nnewi.

He said that voters in the 318 polling units in the community had dismissed the exercise as a failure over what they described as disenfranchisement because of non availability of election materials in almost all the polling stations.

He noted that materials for election,both sensitive and insensitive were deliberately not supplied to the polling stations which frustrated the voters.

He said that the youths were angry and that it had been a difficult task for him to calm them down at the polling stations he visited.

He told journalists that even when he decided to record the angry voters, Army details rushed him and forced him to delete the record.

He said that any result announced after the exercise would never reflect the true position of the local government election in Nnewi.

Although there was voter’s apathy, those that came out to vote made it as early as 7:00am but complained that no electoral officer at sight up to 1:00pm and beyond, adding that where the electoral ad-hoc staff arrived, they would come with incomplete sensitive and insensitive election materials.

The situation led to ANSIEC ad-hoc staff claiming that they were held hostage at Otolo Ward 11 where the youths demanded for complete election materials before commencement of any voting.

At the Otolo Ward 11, the electoral ad-hoc staff told journalists that they arrived with 13 ballot boxes out of 29 that should be dispatched to Otolo Ward 11 and promised that the rest would come according to the officials who sent them.

But the youths insisted that the ballot boxes must be complete before any voting should start and were not allowed to go back with the ones they brought in.

However, the Young Progressives Party (YPP) Councilorship candidate in Otolo Ward 11, Mr Chigbo Uzochukwu said nobody held the ad-hoc workers hostage. He said the youths even bought them food and drinks.

He explained that the youths insisted that they would not commence voting with half supply of materials and that those boxes already brought in would not be returned until they were complete and used for voting.

From Ijeoma John Nnewi