The late arrival of electoral materials on Tuesday characterized the conduct of the Supplementary Election for the 2021 Anambra Governorship Election, which held in Ihiala Local Government Area of the state.
INEC had announced that the election will commence by 10am and end by 4pm.
However, as at 12:30pm, electoral materials and INEC officials were yet to arrive in polling units at Ihiala, Mbosi, Ubuluisiuzo and Okija, visited by TNC correspondent in Anambra.
There was also a heavy presence of security personnel on ground as well as helicopters for aerial surveillance, to respond to the insecurity which had marred the conduct of the election in the area last Saturday.
There was however very low turnout of voters as was the case in last Saturday’s election, due to obvious fear of insecurity.
The Supervising Presiding Officer for Ubuluisiuzo Ward, Ogechukwu Ogbalu explained that the late arrival of the materials was due to the volatile security situation in the LGA and the need for security personnel to escort the men and materials to the various points.
“We were at the local government and sorted the materials but we couldn’t move because we didn’t get the directive due to the security situation.
“There is no way I can move with the materials and personnel because we all know the way things are here.
“That was why we arrived late but we are hopeful that we can handle the number on ground,” she enthused.
Some of the voters, Chinedu Henry and Chief Mike Okoye who expressed their displeasure over the late commencement of the exercise, said the development has the capacity to mar the election as many were leaving out of frustration.
“This development is worrisome because it appears INEC can never stick to time they give for elections.
“Many of our people have come and till 12:30pm, an election that was scheduled to start from 10am has not commenced.
“The danger in this is that people may start taking INEC as unserious,” they lamented.
Meanwhile, there appears to be serious improvement in the operation of the Bi-Modal Voter Accreditation System, B-VAS, in the Supplementary Election, as against what happened during Saturday’s exercise.
At the centres visited by our correspondent, it was noted that the machines worked well and took lesser time to capture details of voters unlike what was obtained last Saturday when it took like 20 minutes to accredit a single voter.
A voter, Sir Chuka Nnabuife who spoke after he voted, commended the INEC for the new technology, calling for sustained efforts at improving the process.
“I really do not know whether the improvement is because of the small area that the election covers.
“Whatever it is, it is my hope that INEC would take whatever improvement they did that made this work into consideration going forward.
“There is also need for further review of the system to identify and address the issues that inhibited the smooth conduct of last Saturday’s elections, especially as we head to the 2023 general elections,” he advised.
