Politics
MR Chris Azor, Chairman of Anambra State Civil Society Network (ASCSNet), an accredited election monitoring group, has blamed low publicity for poor voter turnout during the Anambra Local Government Polls.
Azor , who spoke to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) at the close of the polls on Saturday, said that short notice for the election and poor voters’ sensitisation nearly marred the polls.
He said that it was characterised by late arrival of electoral materials and officials as well as high apathy according to the reports from the group’s field observing agents.
The chairman said they observed Anambra State Independent Electoral Commission (ANSIEC) ad hoc electoral staff not arriving on time at most polling units.
According to him, I think it was a problem of shortage of ad hoc electoral staff, however, we later saw them in some of the polling units at the time we went back to those polling units.
“However, we witnessed impressive turnout at Amawbia, Umudioka-Awka was impressive, same for Ezinifite-Okpuno but categorically, the voter turnout was poor in most places.
“Low voters’ sensitisation actually affected the turnout, some people were not even aware that there was no movement today, that was why movement was high.
“There was a need to talk to the people repeatedly because I think the shortness of the process which is a result of the Supreme Court judgment order and poor publicity affected the entire exercise,” he said.
Azor said the group could not make statement on the participation rate of opposition parties because of internal crisis among them.
He said in spite of the challenges, the Anambra Local Government Council election, which was first in 11 years, “is a good omen as it has been the demand of the people especially the civil society organisations.”
“We cannot say much about political parties’ participation because some of them were factionalised; a section will say they are not taking part and others will say they are part of it,” he said.
He said that his group posted field observers across the state and had an active WhatsApp group as well as a physical situation room where situation reports were sent and processed. (NAN)
29th September, 2024.
C.E.
Tags: Chris Azor
