Chinedum Treasure
Anambra State Independent Electoral Commission (ANSIEC) has assured that the August 29 local government elections in the State would hold as stipulated.
Commissioner in charge of Information and Publicity, Chief Anthony Nnalue Chinedu disclosed this during a chat with journalists in the Commission’s headquarters in Awka.
He maintained that the commission is taking its time to ensure all principles of due process are observed during the election for lapses free at the polls.
”So, as you can see, some of the staff members are out for one assignment or the other. That is why it seems the office is not very busy.
”A good number of them have gone out, some have gone to outstations and different assignments all geared towards perfection of the elections,” he said.
Expressing surprise that none of the political parties or their supporters were campaigning for the elections, Nnalue noted that the commission lifted ban on campaign for the elections a month ago or more.
”It is just appear that, may be for economic reasons, contestants are waiting for the time to draw nearer, that is my suspicion,” he noted.
The Commissioner who could not tell the exact numbers of the ad-hoc staff at the time of the interview, revealed that at least, 5000 thousand ad-hoc workers would be engaged by the commission.
According to him, the elections will hold in all local government areas and the political wards across the 779 communities of the state.
Nnalue who acknowledged that paucity of funds is not peculiar to the Commission, thanked Governor Chukwuma Soludo for his commitment towards making the elections a huge success.
”I don’t think that fund is our problem, so far so good. We are already familiar with the challenges of voter apathy, people feel reluctant to coming out to cast their votes during elections.
“It had become a recurring trend and there is nothing we can do about it. Our duty is to ensure we give the elections adequate publicity, the nous of coming out and performing the civic duty lies squarely on the electorate.
While reiterating the Commission’s commitment to free, fair and credible poll, the Commissioner called on eligible citizens to come out and vote.
’It is their duty to vote whoever they like, otherwise, if they do not talk, people will talk for them and the few that come out and vote will decide their fate,’ he argued.
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