Updated: Anambra Decides 2021: INEC Finally Announces Date for Supplementary Election in Ihiala LGA
- Election in Ihiala local government area of Anambra state has been postponed by the Independent National Electoral Commission
- The postponement was confirmed by the collation officer at the state's collation centre in Awka, Anambra's capital city
- Officials of the electoral body said the need to postpone the election was due to some cases of irregularities reported in the area
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Awka, Anambra - Governorship elections in Ihiala local government area of Anambra state have been postponed, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said.
Legit.ng reports that the commission announced that the postponement of the elections in the area is a result of alleged irregularities recorded in the LGA.
Source: Original
The governorship election in the area has now been scheduled to hold Tuesday, November 9, two days after the initial scheduled date for the governorship polls in the state.
Professor Florence Obi, the returning officer for the election, made the declaration at INEC head office in Awka, Anambra state capital in the early hours of Monday, November 8.
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Justifying her action with the Electoral Act, Obi said a supplementary election will hold in Ihiala on Tuesday.
She said:
“I, Prof. Florence Obi, with the power vested on me as the returning officer, hereby suspend the collation and announcement of any result until elections are conducted in 320polling units in the Ihiala local government. The supplementary election will take place on Tuesday, November 9.”
It was earlier reported that the collation officer for Ihiala LGA, Ahamadu Umar while making a presentation said that elections did not hold in his area.
Umar made the presentation on Sunday, November 7, at the state's collation centre in Awka, Anambra state.
However, the commission had also issued a warning to mischief-making and thugs alike to steer clear of all venues where elections will hold in the area.
Also, a visit to one of the polling units - Okohia Primary School Ihiala - showed that officials at the site were already packing their materials to leave the area.
In another twist of the incident, the INEC's commissioner for information and public enlightenment in the state, Don Adinuba, said that a notable politician in Ihiala and his group tried to rig the election.
Thuggery and the alleged involvement of politicians in the state
According to Adinuba, the said politician had already perfected a similar plan in other areas of the LGA.
He said some of the criminals working with the politicians have since been arrested by security agents.
Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that some ballot boxes were stolen by gunmen in two polling units during the Anambra governorship election.
The ballot boxes were said to have been stolen from Immaculate Heart Catholic Church and the St Faith Catholic Church, Onitsha.
The gunmen reportedly stormed the polling unit shooting sporadically into the air to scare voters before snatching the boxes.
Confirmed cases of ballot box snatching in Anambra
Also, the INEC had confirmed the snatching of ballot boxes in some polling units across Anambra state.
An INEC official said that there were cases of disruption of the governorship electoral process by some thugs in various polling units.
Source: Legit.ng
