By David Lawani
In last-minute words of encouragement to staff of the Commission, the Chairman of Independent National Electoral, INEC, Professor Mahmood has warned and caution staff of the Commission to do everything to ensure votes in Anambra Governorship election counts declaring that despite the challenges faced by it, it must not allow their efforts to go in vain.
Yakubu made this appeal in a statement addressed to journalists and staff saying there is no doubt that so much preparation has gone into the election, therefore, every member of the Commission must remain vigilant to see that the vision and mission are not compromised inspire of the pressure.
He as said a commission, everything is done by crooked elements to prevent them from conducting the poll hit a brick wall and it will not rest until the election is adjured free, fair, and credible for Anambra people.
According to him: “It is therefore imperative for all of you to ensure that every single vote counts. You must remain true to our commitment that only the voters in Anambra State determine who becomes the next Governor of the State. In doing so, you must be guided by the extant laws, our guidelines/regulations, and good conscience. You should remain vigilant, principled, and committed to the vision and mission of the Commission.
“After several months of preparations, the Anambra State Governorship election 2021 is holding this weekend. Despite the challenging situation in the build-up to the election, including attacks on our facilities, our determination to ensure that the election holds as scheduled has been unshaken. In the process, we rebuilt our fixed assets and replaced movable facilities. We also sought and obtained the support of the security agencies, political parties and candidates and all other stakeholders for a successful exercise”, he said.
He said all eyes will be on the Commission in the next few days and look forward to improvements on the BVAs introduced being the first to be deployed in any Governorship election.
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“Over the next few days, all eyes will be on us. As you are aware, Nigerians expect the Anambra Governorship election to be an improvement on the high standards achieved in recent elections. That is why we introduced the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) for fingerprint and facial biometric authentication of voters.
“We have trained staff on the new technology. We have also delivered all sensitive and non-sensitive materials for the election on schedule, deployed election duty staff, and made logistics arrangements to move personnel and materials to thousands of locations in Anambra State where voting and collation of results will take place”, he said.
