Anambra gov poll won’t be postponed, says INEC

The Independent National Electoral Commission on Wednesday said the Anambra State governorship poll would hold on November 18, as scheduled.

The commission said it would not allow any postponement, adding that to do so would adversely affect the cost of prosecuting the election.

The state Resident Electoral Commissioner, Dr. Nkwachukwu Orji, who stated this in a meeting with the executive members of Interparty Advisory Council in the state, said the commission would resist any attempt to truncate the electoral process.

He said, “We want the election to hold as scheduled. We have 58 days to the election and we are on top of the preparations. There would not be any need for postponement.

“Any attempt to shift the date would be waste of resources. We need to conclude the election as scheduled so as to focus on the 2019 general elections.”

He appealed to IPAC leadership to mobilise governorship candidates of their various political parties to articulate their profiles and manifestoes to enable the commission to publish them for effective voter education.

He said, “I learnt you are organising an election debate for all the registered political parties. All these processes are important as they would help to shift campaign from hate speeches and campaign of calumny to issue-based electioneering.”

Responding, the IPAC chairman, Mr. Batho Igwedibia, called on INEC to make use of more of its personnel in the poll, saying that the use of ad hoc workers had proved to be inefficient over the years.

PUNCH