Today, residents of Anambra State take to the polls to elect a governor in what promises to be a very competitive election.
The November 6, 2021, governorship election is the first statewide election to be conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) this year.
Security in the state has deteriorated over the past few months; threatening the election in a manner unseen in the region and the country in general.
Political parties said their campaign activities have been virtually nonexistent as a result of the fear of violent attacks from the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
On Thursday, IPOB announced that it has cancelled its one-week sit-at-home earlier declared in Anambra State. Despite the cancellation, analysts said the “fear is still palpable” as IPOB’s sit-at-home order has been so successful that even when the group lifts the ban, “residents still sit-at-home either out of solidarity or to err on the side of caution.”
READ ALSO: Anambra Election: INEC Plans E-Transmission Of Results From 5,634 Polling Units
Here are five things to know about the election:
1. New Polling units
Saturday’s governorship election is the first statewide election to be conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) since the expansion of voter access to polling units by INEC.
According to INEC, the expansion of voter access to polling units resulted in the creation of 1,112 new polling units from the existing polling units in the state, making balloting more accessible to voters and less likely to be encumbered by lengthy queues.
This, the electoral commission said, is “to improve citizens’ access and participation in the electoral process.”
Such innovations, as well as INEC’s introduction of online voter registration, have partially aided in reassuring the public of the commission’s preparedness to conduct credible elections.
But despite the initiative, Yiaga Africa, a non-profit civic hub, said it is concerned that there are 963 polling units with between 750 and 1,000 registered voters.
Yiaga said:
“With the likely shortfall in the number of polling officials, the high number of registered voters in these polling units may pose a major challenge for crowd control and effective management of the polling units on election day.
2. Declining Turnout of voters
Since the restoration of democracy in 1999, governorship elections in Anambra have never witnessed up to 50 per cent voter turnout except in 2007 which was massively rigged, according to the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD).
Of the 1.84 million registered voters in Anambra state for the 2010 governorship election, only 302,000 voted; a miserly 16 per cent voter turnout. In 2013, a total of 1, 770,127 were registered, but only 465,891 voted, representing 24 per cent.
Less than a quarter of the total number of registered voters participated in the 2017 election. Out of 2,064,134 residents registered as eligible voters for the election, only 457, 511 voted, representing 21 per cent.
Aside from Anambra, voter turnout keeps declining despite millions of money spent on elections in Nigeria.
3. Massive Deployment of Security Agents
Following President Muhammadu Buhari’s order, the security agencies assured INEC and citizens of adequate security for the election.
Last week, the Inspector-General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba, deployed two deputy inspectors-general of police (DIG) and five assistant inspectors-general of police (AIG) to Anambra to help ensure adequate security for Saturday’s election.
Based on the outcome of their analysis, the IGP also said:
“We have developed a strategic election security operation plan which will involve the mobilisation of 34,587 police personnel.”
4. 2.5 million registered voters
In early October, INEC said it had registered a total of 2,525,471 voters for the Anambra governorship elections.
INEC chairman, Mahmud Yakubu, said the commission arrived at the new figure after removing 62,698 persons from the total of 138,802 new registrants recorded at the end of the first quarter of the Continuous Voters Registration (CVR) exercise on 5 September.
While the number of the new eligible CVR registrants stands at 77,475, Anambra State, as of the 2019 General Election, accounted for 2,447,996 registered voters.
INEC further said that 50.3 per cent are females while 49.6 per cent are males. Also, the highest voting population are students who make up about 48 per cent of registered voters while Idemili North Local Government Area has the highest number of registered voters.
5. Logistics arrangements especially in Riverine communities:
The electoral umpire, INEC, was widely lauded for its conduct of last year’s governorship elections held in Edo and Ondo states. The commission has historically battled significant logistical challenges in Anambra, raising concern about the potential credibility of the electoral outcome.
At the INEC Office in Oyi LG, ADHOC staff are seen checking their names on the deployment list for Anambra Governorship Election.
In its pre-election report, Yiaga calls the attention of INEC and security agencies to notorious blind spots and riverine communities that could pose a logistical challenge and undermine the integrity of the election.
To ensure the early commencement of polls in those areas, Yiaga said:
“INEC should ensure timely deployment of its officials and materials and improved security to safeguard election materials and officials.
“Improved oversight is required to ensure consistency in the application of election guidelines.”
