Anambra guber: Why political parties no longer campaign openly – Group
Global Initiative for African Development (GIFAD), an electioneering advocacy group has lamented the spate of killings and frequent attacks in Anambra State, saying, the development has sent fears down the spines of political parties, such that they cannot campaign the way they ought to do.
Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday in Abuja, Chairman of the group, Onwubuya Abraham Breakforth, said until now, Anambra was one of the most peaceful states, before security issues went awry as a result of the governorship election slated for November 6.
He said GIFAD took time to do a field survey and discovered that the current insecurity was a fall out of political actors who were desperate for political powers in the State, lamenting that Anambra election which used to be credible in the past may be at risk if the situation continued.
The group said, the situation was so damning that both gunmen and security agents were casualties each time there was an attack, fearing that there may be voter apathy as a result of INEC’s inability to conduct voter education exercise before the election.
The group described as unfortunate, a situation where some members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) were still enforcing a sit-at-home, despite the group’s leadership directive that the order has been suspended, thereby making the terrain in Anambra State more difficult as residents could no longer move freely for fear of attack.
He.said: “There are clashes between security operatives and unknown gunmen that left casualties on both sides with a spill over of civilian deaths.
“Political parties are not campaigning as they should because of insecurity.
“Until recently, Anambra was a safe state like other states in the South East Nigeria. It is reputed to hold non-violent elections in the past with about two million eligible voters.
“The recent security breach and unacceptable killing of civilians in the State seem as a result of fallout of activities of agitators on one hand and the shenanigan of desperate and malicious politicians, who want to commandeer political power by all means.
The group insisted that the Independent National Electoral Commission should introduce bimodal voter accreditation and transmit results electronically which they promised in order to sustain confidence of the electorate.
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