Kukah is the Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, an advocate of peace and free and fair election
Anambra continues to heat up ahead of the November 6 governorship election. The Independent Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) has ordered a sit-at-home in all South-East states, commencing from November 5, just 24 hours to the election. The fear of disobeying IPOB may force many to comply with the sit-at-home, and ruin any chances of a free and credible election. Nigeria continues to suffer from all fronts.
The Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, and his entourage comprising national commissioners, members of the technical team among others on Tuesday travelled to Anambra ahead of the governorship election.
RELATED
IPOB sit-at-home threat unsettles political parties in Anambra
IPOB: This madness must stop
They first arrived at Enugu airport before heading to Akwa, Anambra State capital.
The Catholic bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Matthew Kukah, one of the conveners of the National Peace Committee, also joined the team.
Yakubu will on Wednesday attend a meeting with traditional rulers and stakeholders in Awka to discuss final aspects of the Anambra State governorship election scheduled for November 6. Kukah will also be meeting opinion leaders ahead of the vote.
Columnist and Editor-in-Chief of TheNiche, Ikechukwu Amaechi, had criticised the sit-at-home in one of his columns.
He said: “The main contenders for the election are Charles Soludo (APGA), Andy Uba (APC) and Valentine Ozigbo (PDP). IPOB is also struggling at the stage with them – to keep the voting centres empty.
“The sit-at-home order will affect schools and marketplaces, they decreed. In Alaigbo, education is an industry, not a haram. Entrepreneurship is a virtue, not a vice. As businessmen, Ndigbo have made spectacular success of private enterprise.
“Enlightened self-interest should have informed IPOB that anything that will affect those two pillars of Igbo reality negatively is a definite no-no. More so, secondary school students were writing their external examinations and any attempt to shut down schools at such a critical moment will impact negatively on a generation of Igbo youths.”