Anambra LG poll: Voters lament late arrival of electoral officers, materials

Eligible voters were yet to exercise their franchise as of 9:30 am at the ongoing Local Government chairmanship and councilorship election taking place across the 21 LGAs of Anambra State.

At some of the polling units visited by our correspondent on Saturday, the voters, who had already arrived at the venues, expressed concern at the absence of officials of the Anambra State Independent Electoral Commission and said the development could affect the voting process.

Some of the polling units included Polling Unit 006 at Ichi Community Primary School in Ekwusigo LGA, Polling Unit 008 at Iyiowa-Odekpe in Ogbaru LGA, Aroma Ward Three, Odoagba Ward One and Polling Unit at Unizik junction and the Polling Unit 02 in Ayamelum LGA secretariat.

As of the time of this report, no ANSIEC Ad-hoc staff, security personnel or electoral materials have arrived at the polling units as the few voters that have started arriving at the various polling units were seen sitting down in groups while awaiting the arrival of officials and materials.

Our correspondent also observed that only one political party agent was present at one of the voting centres.

However, there was partial vehicular movement, as people were seen carrying out their monthly sanitation exercise in their various houses.

A voter at Iyiowa-Odekpe, Christopher Adindun, said, “This is past 9:30 am and up till now, we have not seen ANSIEC officials and materials in polling unit 009. From the information reaching us, most of the polling units are experiencing the same issue.”

Another voter at Ichi Community Primary School in Ekwusigo LGA, Helen Uzor, said, “There seemed to be no sign of election going to hold because, at the time, no ANSIEC Ad-hoc staff, security personnel or electoral materials have arrived at the polling unit. Although, they are still being expected as more people have started coming out.”

However, when contacted, the ANSIEC Commissioner in charge of Logistics and Publicity, Sir Anthony Nnalue, urged voters to remain calm and orderly, assuring them that the materials are being sorted and shared and will be at the polling units soon.