February 5, 2010
Field reports gathered by Saharareporters indicate that Governor Peter Obi of Anambra of Anambra could not vote in today’s election after he toured nine wards and heard loud protests from many voters who could not find their names on voters registers provided by INEC. Our reports also show that Charles Soludo, the PDP candidate, voted in his ward at 1.20 p.m. Accosted by reporters on his chances, he said it was too early to say.
Field reports gathered by Saharareporters indicate that Governor Peter Obi of Anambra of Anambra could not vote in today’s election after he toured nine wards and heard loud protests from many voters who could not find their names on voters registers provided by INEC. Our reports also show that Charles Soludo, the PDP candidate, voted in his ward at 1.20 p.m. Accosted by reporters on his chances, he said it was too early to say.
Today’s election, which ended at 4 p.m. (Nigerian time) was relatively peaceful, but marked by widespread problems with voters registers. “We strongly believe that unscrupulous INEC officials manipulated voters registers after they were displayed,” said one election observer who represented the Nigerian Bar Association.
There were many out of state names on registers and only sprinkles of actual voters from Anambra State. Former Nigerian Vice President Alex Ekwueme did not find his name on the voters register. He was allowed to vote after he brought out an election register earlier displayed by INEC which contained his name.
Our observers noted that voting did not take some wards, including those in Okija where ballot boxes were snatched away.
As polls closed, officials of APGA and AC told our reporters that they were confident of doing well if the electoral commission and security agencies did not meddle with the legitimate votes cast. They however expressed fears that vote rigging usually starts at collation centers at nightfall where INEC and the police connive to prevent other party agents from participating in vote collation.
An INEC source told our reporters that, going by the way the elections were badly handled, a few officials of the commission were determined to prevent the emergence of a clear winner to enable them to rig in their favored candidate. The source said senior officials of INEC were split in their loyalty between Andy Uba of Labour Party and Soludo of the PDP.
Our reporters in the state disclosed that INEC did not provide election result sheets customized to Anambra State. “The purpose may be to ease vote manipulation,” one observer suggested to our reporter.
Officials of AC, whose candidate is Chris Ngige, said they were wary of election observers Bello Fadile and Femi Aduwo -both were battered by PDP thugs in Awka last night. “These two men are known to be staunch PDP stalwarts,” said one AC official. He added that Femi Aduwo “is a key witness for Governor Segun Oni of Ekiti State in the ongoing challenge to the PDP governor’s fraudulent victory in the 2007 election.”
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Today’s election, which ended at 4 p.m. (Nigerian time) was relatively peaceful, but marked by widespread problems with voters registers. “We strongly believe that unscrupulous INEC officials manipulated voters registers after they were displayed,” said one election observer who represented the Nigerian Bar Association.
There were many out of state names on registers and only sprinkles of actual voters from Anambra State. Former Nigerian Vice President Alex Ekwueme did not find his name on the voters register. He was allowed to vote after he brought out an election register earlier displayed by INEC which contained his name.
Our observers noted that voting did not take some wards, including those in Okija where ballot boxes were snatched away.
As polls closed, officials of APGA and AC told our reporters that they were confident of doing well if the electoral commission and security agencies did not meddle with the legitimate votes cast. They however expressed fears that vote rigging usually starts at collation centers at nightfall where INEC and the police connive to prevent other party agents from participating in vote collation.
An INEC source told our reporters that, going by the way the elections were badly handled, a few officials of the commission were determined to prevent the emergence of a clear winner to enable them to rig in their favored candidate. The source said senior officials of INEC were split in their loyalty between Andy Uba of Labour Party and Soludo of the PDP.
Our reporters in the state disclosed that INEC did not provide election result sheets customized to Anambra State. “The purpose may be to ease vote manipulation,” one observer suggested to our reporter.
Officials of AC, whose candidate is Chris Ngige, said they were wary of election observers Bello Fadile and Femi Aduwo -both were battered by PDP thugs in Awka last night. “These two men are known to be staunch PDP stalwarts,” said one AC official. He added that Femi Aduwo “is a key witness for Governor Segun Oni of Ekiti State in the ongoing challenge to the PDP governor’s fraudulent victory in the 2007 election.”
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