The Electoral Officer for Aguata Local Governemnt Area in Anambra has signed an undertaking at Umuchu that Saturday’s statewide council election did not hold in the area.
The agreement was signed between the community and the electoral officer in the presence of security agents and the party agents rescheduling the election for another day.
This followed the demands by the community that the election be rescheduled for an acceptable day when the materials would be made available on time.
Mr Reuben Uzowulu, the Electoral Officer for the council, had told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that there was a problem of non-arrival of the sensitive materials, particularly the result sheets, from Awka, the state capital.
Uzowulu said the result sheets were brought to Umuchu wards 1 & 2 at about 2:30 p.m. after efforts by the Anambra State Independent Electoral Commission in Awka.
He said the delay emanated from the commission’s headquarters in Awka.
Reacting, Mr Chukwuma Ezeafulukwe, a former deputy chairman of Aguata Local Government Area and the Treasurer of Umuchu Development Union, said the people of the area came out early but were disappointed.
He said the people discovered that the result sheets were not included in the materials sent to the wards and insisted that the materials be completed before the commencement of the exercise.
Ezeafulukwe said the agreement became imperative because of the inability of the ANSIEC to provide the result sheets.
“This is no democratic process, there is no transparency; we need to put a stop to this madness,’’ he said.
Mr Godwin Ezeemo, the leader of the Progressives Peoples’ Alliance (PPA) in the state, said that ANSIEC did not do a good job having planned the election for almost eight years.
Ezeemo said the logistics problems which bothered mostly on sensitive materials, could have been sorted out to make for a smooth exercise.
He alleged that there was no election in the local government going by the reports of the party members.
“it is really painful that people have called for local government election for the past 16 years and today what we are having is a make-belief. It is heart-breaking,’’ he said.
He called for a new date for the election in the council while condemning the alleged use of security agents to coarse the electorate to vote.
