Anambra Poll: Senator Umeh Commends Peaceful Conduct, Urges Respect For Voters’ Choice

Senator representing the Anambra Central District, Victor Umeh, has commended the peaceful conduct of the ongoing governorship election in Anambra State.

He made the remarks shortly after casting his vote at Polling Unit 19, Aguluzigbo Town Hall, Anaocha Local Government Area, on Saturday.

Speaking to journalists, Umeh described voting as a civic responsibility and urged citizens to actively participate in the democratic process by freely choosing their preferred candidates.

“I’ve come here with my wife to perform our civic responsibility to vote in this governorship election taking place today in Anambra State. It’s a civic duty, everybody must participate during elections and vote for candidates of their choice,” he said.

The lawmaker, who is a member of Labour Party (LP), noted that the atmosphere at his polling unit was calm and orderly, adding that both he and his wife had successfully cast their votes.

“If you look around, the place is peaceful, the atmosphere is also peaceful, and everyone here has voted without any trouble,” he added.

Reflecting on his long-standing involvement in Anambra politics, Senator Umeh revealed that he had previously served as a state collation agent in five different governorship elections from 2003 to 2021 for winning candidates including Peter Obi, Willie Obiano, and Charles Soludo.

“I have been involved in the governorship elections in this state for five consecutive times in the past — starting from Mr. Peter Obi in 2003, Obi again in 2010, Willie Obiano in 2013 and 2017, and Soludo in 2021.”

“I served as a state collation agent for all those candidates, and they all won. But this time around, I’m not an agent; I’m simply a voter, and I’ve come to cast my vote as required by law,” he explained.

When asked why he had not been active in campaign activities this election cycle, Umeh said he intentionally stayed away to allow the people to freely decide their leader.

“Because I have played very great roles in the past, I believe I should allow Anambra people to choose who will be their leader at this time. I didn’t want to be a subject of the election. Over the years, whenever I play visible roles, I become a target,” he said.

“If I had come out fully to join the campaign, we wouldn’t be talking about the candidates; we would be talking about Victor Umeh. So I decided to take the back seat and vote quietly for the candidate of my choice.”

Umeh praised the security arrangements across the state, saying reports reaching him indicated that the exercise had been largely peaceful.

“Reports I received from across the state show that there is adequate security for the election and no preponderance of complaints as we used to have in the past,” he noted.

“From my own polling unit here, nobody has called me to say there’s a problem anywhere. Happily, I’ve not heard any negative reports, which shows that the election has gone on peacefully.”

The senator, however, cautioned against electoral malpractice and urged stakeholders to ensure that the integrity of the process is maintained through collation and result declaration stages.

“It is too early in the day to make a final assessment of the election. It’s only when you get into the night and the wee hours of the morning that dark agents begin to play with election results and manipulate the process.

I hope it doesn’t happen in Anambra State. Let the votes of the people be respected, not only today but in all future elections,” Umeh said.

He emphasised that Nigeria’s democracy can only thrive when citizens’ votes truly count.

“Elections in Nigeria can only prosper democratically if we allow the citizens to freely choose their leaders with their votes. If we begin to respect it this way, then our democracy will grow and blossom,” he said.

Umeh expressed optimism that by Sunday morning, the outcome of the exercise would reflect the will of Anambra voters.

“By the time the final results are tallied and announced, and the results meet the expectations of the voters, then we can say the election has succeeded,” he concluded.