By Vincent Ujumadu
THE Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, in Anambra State has banned politicians from entering its offices in the state while the ongoing registration and revalidations of prospective voters lasted.
The ban followed an incident that happened when the member representing Anambra Central senatorial zone, Senator Uche Ekwunife visited the state headquarters of INEC, Awka during which the registrants objected to her addressing them.
The Anambra State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Dr Nkwachukwu Orji, who gave the order directed INEC security personnel not to allow politicians to address the registrants anymore to forestall possible breakdown of law and order.
Ekwunife, who is the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, senatorial candidate for Anambra Central for next year’s election, had visited the INEC office to monitor the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration, CVR, exercise.
She was said to have earlier distributed among the registrants and INEC officials some drinks and other edibles, apparently to appreciate their work, but the people argued that her intention was to boost her candidacy on would- be voters within the senatorial district.
She was also said to have informed them of her efforts to ensure that INEC brought more machines and was applauded by the registrants comprising mainly of the youths before she allegedly veered off to subtly canvas for votes.
It was gathered that trouble started when the senator allegedly began to appeal to the large crowd of young men and women waiting to be registered to obtain their PVCs and to consider PDP in next year’s election when casting their votes.
According to the report, it was at that point that the crowd began to shout her down on, forcing her security personnel to whisk her into her car and zoomed off.
Recall that Senator Ekwunife hails from the same Anaocha local government area and same senatorial district as the her opponent in the forthcoming election, Senator Victor Umeh and Mr. Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party which has become very popular among Nigerian youths.
Vanguard News Nigeria