Anambra 2013: Shrines and thick forests, seriously Nigeria.

The stakeholders in the electoral process have agreed to relocate all polling units from shrines, thick forests and homes of prominent politicians in the state as the November 16 governorship elections in Anambra State draws nearer.

This was confirmed, yesterday, in Abuja by the Acting Chairman of Anambra State Independent Electoral Commission, ANSIEC, Mr. Sylvester Okonkwo, while speaking to news men during an interactive session with officers of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, in Abuja.

Okonkwo stated that such polling units existed at Onitsha North, Ogbaru and Oyi Local Government Areas of the state, adding that results from such polling units located in inaccessible places were usually used to produce fake results during elections.

According to him, ANSIEC had earlier alerted INEC on the matter and had begun the process of relocating such illegal polling units to areas where they would be accessible to people during elections.

Come on readers, this is quite the story, unbelievable in some climes but confirmed by Attahiru Jega himself. Well going further….

His words: “We observed that about six polling units were set up at the bank of a river in Ontisha North Local Government Area. We insisted that these polling units must be relocated to the prisons quarters for genuine use. Also at Ogbaru Local Government, at Ogbo Efere Market to be precise, there were six polling units there, which INEC established to help traders to register, but we found out that on election days, even when those markets were locked up for the elections, we still have votes from such places. We do not know who votes in a closed market. So we have decided that those six polling units will be relocated outside the market. “

Apart from this, Okonkwo further said that there is an invicible polling unit in Ogbaru, which people used to call Festac.

He said: “We have looked around and there is no Festac in Anamabra State. We found out that this polling unit was right inside the compound of one political heavy weight in the area. We have brought the polling unit out to the town. Also there is another one in Oyi Local Government Area. The place is Nteje, where a polling unit was located inside a thick forest, almost two kilometres from the road, where nobody lives.

The question remains, how credible will the Anambra State elections be with voting centres turning up in forests and shrines, and is what lasting solutions can we adopt in Nigeria.

Vanguard.