General apathy and late arrival of electoral material marred the 2024 Local Government Election in Onitsha North, Onitsha South, Anambra East and Nnewi North Local Government Areas of Anambra State.
Complaints of late arrival and lack of voting materials by some people who were interested in voting, while others who were neither interested nor waiting for the officials and electoral materials to arrive, saw the whole process as a sham.
While some people alleged that what happened today was not an election, others say that the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, led government in the state refused to follow the electoral law guidelines because of the desperation to claim that their party won the whole 21 local government areas of the state, as other sitting governors in South East and other parts of the country are allegedly doing.
In Anambra East Local Government particularly Nsugbe, the home town of Senator Tony Nwoye, residents of the community who were not even members of the Labour Party, LP, on whose ticket Senator Nwoye is representing Anambra North Senatorial zone came out to vote but did not see electoral officials and material to conduct the exercise.
One of the voters at Collage Road Nsugbe, Samuel Odinaka who spoke with newsmen said that over 1000 voters were supposed to cast their votes at Ward 2 Nsugbe Boot 003, but could not cast their votes because there were no electoral materials like ballot papers and result sheet.
In Nnewi particularly, the Nnewi North council area, it was the same story of not seeing electoral officials and materials to conduct the exercise, even when people gathered as early as 8.00 am to carry out their civic duties.
At Okpuno Egbo in Nnewi Ward 2, there were no materials but people came out to vote. Also at Akabo Ukwu Uruagu Nnewi, electorates boycotted the exercise following incomplete voting materials.
Angry voters were seen chanting “No complete voting materials, no voting. ANSEC officials arrived late and with incomplete voting materials.”
One of the voters who simply identified himself as John Okoye, said in Akabo Ukwu, Uruagu Nnewi, we have six Wards but ANSIEC came with electoral materials for one Ward, and we are asking what happened to the materials for the remaining five Wards.
“We have six polling boots in Akabo Ukwu but ANSEC officials came late and even with their late coming they came with only materials for one Ward, what happened to the materials for the other five Ward? We have decided to boycott the election until they complete the materials.”
It was observed that following the anger expressed by the voters at Akabo Ukwu, the ANSIEC officials hurriedly entered the red Mitsubishi bus they came in, with the electoral materials and left to avoid beating the angry voters.
It was also reported that in all the visited polling units, only APGA supporters were seen at the polling units as no supporters of the Peoples Democratic Party PDP, All Progressives Congress, APC and LP were seen around the Polling units.
Peoples Democratic Party factional Chairman for Ward 14 Onitsha North Local Government Area, Chief Ambrose Ekeh, described the election as a sham, and said that voting is going on with interested people, adding that ‘This is not the way the election is conducted “
“I Am not impressed with what I have seen today but we will wait to see what the whole exercise today will be like. We keep our fingers crossed for what will be the outcome.”
