Emma Elekwa

The Anambra State Independent Electoral Commission (v) on Wednesday assured its near preparedness for the Saturday’s local government Chairmanship and Councilorship election across the state.

Commissioner in charge of Information and Publicity, Chief Tony Nnalue who gave the assurance in a press briefing, said election would hold in all the 21 Local government areas and 326 wards in the state.

He said preparations for the exercise which started last February were almost getting to its peak, including evacuation of non-sensitive materials to the various locations, while sensitive materials would be moved to the required areas as early as 7.30am on Saturday.

“Voting will commence by 8.00am in all the voting centers across the state. We encourage eligible voters to come out to exercise their franchise,” he added.

The Commissioner further revealed that two political parties, the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and the Young Progressive Party (YPP) that indicated interest would be participating in the exercise.

He disclosed that about 346 councilorship candidates and 22 mayoral candidates have been screened while adhoc team recruited for the exercise have undergone training conducted on zonal basis.

His words: “The last training for the collation officers and SPOs are ongoing. This special training is due to the peculiarities of the election.

All the local governments where there’s a single candidate contesting will witness yes or no ballot. When a mayoral candidate emerges unopposed, that’s not automatic victory.

“The law says, if only one candidate emerges unopposed during the primary, he’ll contest the election as single candidate. Instead of the ballot showcasing different parties, it will show yes or no options.

“Yes or no ballot simply means that it’s the duty of the parties to nominate their candidates, but it is the right of the electorate to decide whether the candidate is accepted by them.

“Emerging victorious at the primary doesn’t give you automatic winning. The candidate must be tested by the electorate through their yes or no options.

“At the end of the voting, the results would be collated and counted. If the number of votes with the yes outweigh that of no, and the candidate garnered two-third of the votes, he will be declared winner.

“But if the number of no votes outweigh that of yes, the candidate loses and the election will be declared inconclusive. The floor would be opened again for another fresh primary.

“This is the first time this will be conducted in the state. We’re glad to be the first team and state to execute it.”