Ahead of Saturday, August 16 by-elections in Anambra South Senatorial Zone as well as Onitsha North 1 State Constituency, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Thursday distributed both sensitive and non-sensitive materials for the conduct of the elections in the affected constituencies.
Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in the state, Queen Elizabeth Agwu told jouranlists that the election would hold in 210 wards in Anambra South Senatorial zone while the exercise would hold in 118 wards in Onitsha North 1 State Constituency.
Agwu also said that while a total of 817, 521 registered voters were expected to determine a winner for Anambra South Senatorial zone seat, 92, 223 voters will be eligible to participate in Onitsha North 1 election.
The by-elections, she explained were necessitated following the demise of the occupants of the seats, Senator Ifeanyi Ubah and Hon Justice Azuka.
The REC assured that the Commission has made adequate arrangements to ensure that the elections were conducted free, fair and credible.
She added that the Commission held a meeting with all the major stakeholders including security agencies, and that participants in the elections agreed to synergise to ensure that the election was hitch-free while everyone played by the rules.
Agwu urged electorate to come out en mass to vote in the elections and advised those without any business in the elections to stay away from the constituencies during the election.
She dismissed the allegations of perfecting plots to manipulate the election in favour of a political party.
“I want to advise the people of the state to shun rumours. They said that I have perfected plans to rig the election but you can see that all of us are now here in the Central Bank of Nigeria and we have taken delivery of both the sensitive and non-sensitive materials for the election and distributing them to the various constituencies where the election will hold.
“The security agencies are here, some political party representatives are here and you gentlemen of the press are here witnessing the distribution.
“I advise the people not to listen to rumours because rumours destroy a society”, the REC maintained.
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