INEC Adjusts Timeline For Ihiala Poll

Following the suspension of collation of results in the 2021 Anambra state governorship election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the electoral body has made a slight adjustment to the commencement and closing time for the exercise. INEC had announced through the state collation/returning officer, Professor Florence Obi, the decision of the commission to hold election in Ihiala local government area today. Accordingly, polling in respect of the supplementary election for Ihiala local government area will commence at 10 am and end at 4. pm. A statement by INEC’s national commissioner and chairman, information and voter education committee noted that: “This decision, which will be strictly complied with, has been taken following a careful review of the prevailing situation in Anambra state and is being widely shared with the stakeholders including security agencies.

“We urge political parties, voters, election duty officials, election observers, the media, and the general public to note this slight modification. We also appeal to citizens to conduct themselves in an orderly manner to ensure that the election is brought to a peaceful conclusion.” Despite the fact that Chukwuma Soludo, the candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), secured the majority of the votes cast in Saturday’s Anambra governorship election, INEC suspended the collation of results and declared it inconclusive.

Results after 20 local government areas declared shows a smaller margin of lead, relative to the number of outstanding votes from one outstanding local government area. While Soludo leads his closest challenger, Valentine Ozigbo, with over 50,000 votes, Ihiala local government area alone has over 148,000 registered voters.Meanwhile, Ichie Chimezie Kenney Nwankwo has called on aggrieved members of APGA in Ward 2, Ihiala local government area of Anambra, to settle their differences.