By Favour Goodness
Nwachukwu Orji, Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Anambra state, says violence-prone areas have been identified in the state.
Speaking in a dialogue with civil society organisations (CSOs) at the weekend, Orji said the commission and security agencies are working to ensure smooth conduct of the forthcoming governorship election.
The Anambra governorship election is expected to take place on Nov. 6 but multiple violent attacks in the state have cast a doubt on if the poll will take place as scheduled.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had said although the commission is worried by the attacks in the state, it is determined to conduct the election as scheduled.
Owing to the violent attacks, the federal government had threatened to declare a state of emergency in the state — but that position has been faulted by the state government and socio-cultural groups.
Speaking on what the commission is doing about the security situation, Orji said INEC is working with residents, religious leaders and traditional rulers on the need to discourage violence that might disrupt the election.
I have confidence that this election is holding, because we are already on top of the security issues, together with various security agencies. We are assuring the people of Anambra and other Nigerians that the situation is under control,” he said.
“All hands are on deck. We have identified issues and black spots prone to violence and we have alerted security agencies and they are doing their job. The political parties are ready to cooperate and have issued warnings to party members to shun violence.
“The parties have shown interest and readiness for November 6. I doubt if they want to spend their monies in vain. On our part, we have put in place more efforts to ensure safety of non-sensitive materials and all officials involved in the exercise and we are not running behind schedule.
“Security agencies are still having closed-door meetings and we are not expected to display or voice out all our plans. I am assuring you that lives and properties will be safe for this national event.
“Still on issues of violence, we have engaged residents, traditional rulers and religious leaders in a dialogue to ensure men and women, children and mostly the youth stay off negative tendencies to disrupt the elections.
“Visitors will not come to disrupt an election, even strangers. We have advised the communities to ensure they rather protect their votes than disrupt the event, leading to complications and deaths.”
