The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has adjusted the timeframe for voting in Tuesday’s supplementary election for Anambra governorship poll in Ihiala local government area.
It said voting will hold from 10am-4pm as against the 8:30am-2:30pm timeframe.
This was announced on Monday by the National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and voter Education Committee, Mr Festus Okoye.
He said: “Following the suspension of collation of results in respect of the 2021 Anambra State Governorship election as announced yesterday, November 7, 2021 by the State Collation/Returning Officer and the decision of the Commission to hold election in Ihiala Local Government Area on Tuesday, November 9, the Commission in line with extant rules and regulations has made a slight adjustment to the commencement and closing time for the said election.
“Accordingly, polling in respect of the supplementary election for Ihiala Local Government will commence tomorrow at 10am and end at 4pm.
“This decision, which will be strictly complied with, has been taken following a careful review of the prevailing situation in Anambra state and is being widely shared with the stakeholders including security agencies.
“We urge political parties, voters, election duty officials, election observers, the media and the general public to note this slight modification. We also appeal to citizens to conduct themselves in an orderly manner to ensure that the election is brought to a peaceful conclusion.”
INEC ordered the supplementary election because the margin between the two leading candidates, Soludo and Ozigbo, which stands at 52,624 is lower than the 148,407 votes that were canceled in Ihiala LGA.
Ahmadu Umar, the collation officer for Ihiala LGA, had earlier reported that there was no election in the Local government.
Also Read: Soludo stretches lead with 17 LGAs as Obi, Ekwunife, Ngige, deputy governor lose LGAs
The returning officer Prof Florence Obi, VC of the University of Calabar, said the decision to suspend the collation of results was because the outstanding votes can affect the outcome of the election.
She, therefore, fixed the supplementary election in Ihiala LGA, for tomorrow Tuesday, November 9, 2021.
Results from the remaining 20 LGAs, as announced by INEC on Sunday, showed that the APGA candidate, Soludo, is leading with 103,946 votes, he was followed by Ozigbo of the PDP, who got 51,322 votes, while APC’s candidate, Uba had 42,942
The Nation
