Anambra gov’ship: Voters hopeful as FG warns IPOB against disruption

The government and residents of Anambra State have expressed confidence that despite the sit-at-home order by the banned Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), the November 6 governorship election will hold.

IPOB had threatened to lock down the entire South East for six days if its leader, Nnamdi Kanu, is not released unconditionally before November 4, four days before the election.

The Anambra State Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, C-Don Adinuba, dismissed the threat that the election would not hold, assuring that it would witness massive turnout.

According to him, there was no cause for alarm as there would be heavy presence of security personnel on the election day in the state.

Spokesman of the command DSP Ikenga Tochukwu said the police in the state are evolving new strategies to tackle security challenges as they emerge. 

He said the deployment of police personnel will take care of the situation before, during and after the election. 

The INEC Public Relations Officer, Mr. Nimem Samuel, who spoke with Daily Trust in Awka said all arrangements are on for the conduct of the election. He said the commission was ready for the conduct of the poll.

Also speaking, the Vice President of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Damain Ogene-Okeke, said they are waiting for the action of the South East governors on the matter.

A printer, Mr. Philip Okeke, said the sit-at-home order of IPOB will not stop the election. He said the election will certainly hold but may likely have low turnout.

Also speaking on the matter, Mr. Frank Okaomme described the threat as an empty one, noting that nothing will stop the election from holding.

“The possibility of government flooding the state with security men is high and with the presence of security men, it might be difficult to stop the election,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Federal Government has vowed to deal decisively with the IPOB and other unscrupulous elements planning to foment trouble or attempt to disrupt the election.

This is as the INEC insisted that it was ready and that the election will hold as scheduled.

The National Security Adviser (NSA), Maj-Gen Babagana Monguno (rtd), gave the warning on Monday in Abuja at a meeting of the Inter-agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES), saying security agencies had been ordered to deal ruthlessly with troublemakers.

Speaking earlier, INEC chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu said the commission was determined to proceed with the poll as scheduled.