The Anambra State Independent Electoral Commission, ANSIEC, will conduct the State Local Government election on Saturday, September 28 without the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, BVAS.
According to reports, ANSIEC stated that BVAS technology is not reliable for the elections.
This was contained in a statement by the Commissioner in charge of Information and Logistics, ANSIEC, Anthony Nnalue.
The Commissioner made the disclosure at a sensitization programme organized by the International Peace and Civil Responsibility Centre, IPCRC, on Thursday in Awka.
He noted that programme was organized for accreditation of election observers and media personnel for the LG elections.
According to Nnalue, ANSIEC would deploy manual accreditation, stating that the BVAS was not reliable.
He said, “We will not use BVAS, but manual. BVAS is not reliable, it has distorted the electoral process in Nigeria. We do not want a situation where election results are tampered with.”
Nnalue also assured early arrival of election materials in the State. He stated that the era of delayed arrival of material was over in the State.
The Commissioner further added that non-sensitive materials were already on the way to the Local Government Area Councils .He stated that 5,720 ad-hoc staff have been trained to conduct the elections across the State’s polling units.
”We are fully prepared and ready for the Saturday election, in terms of security, materials and other logistics.
“Elections will not be held in Nnewi South, Orumba South and Idemili South. Voters from those areas will be voting at the Council headquarters. We do not want to risk the lives of both officers and voters.
“We urge the electorate to come out en masse and vote. Your vote will count,” he said.
In a related development, the coordinator of IPCRC, Chris Azor, urged politicians and the electorate to be vigilant during the elections. He tasked them to shun vote buying, violence, gender discrimination, and over-voting.
Azor urged security agencies to maintain neutrality while respecting human rights and the rule of law.
The IPCRC coordinator also stated that the organization would establish a Situation Room in Awka. This is for real-time coordination and reporting.
He said, “As accredited observers, we are committed to ensuring a free, fair, credible, and peaceful local government election in Anambra state.”
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