Lawyers Berate INEC Over Performance In Anambra Election

LAGOS-based Legal Practitioners have described the performance of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), during the governorship election it conducted in Anambra State over the weekend as disgraceful.

Barr. Adekunle Ojo, in an interview with Prime Business Africa’s Correspondent, described the exercise as shambolic, shameful and disgraceful.

The lawyer asserted that since INEC could not complete the governorship election in Anambra state in one day, what it means is that it would need one week to successfully conduct the 2023 general elections.

Ojo expressed worry about the level of preparation of INEC to conduct the next general election in Nigeria.

On his part, Barr. Mike Umonnan, said Nigerians did not expect such an outcome from the electoral body, saying, “we do not appreciate this kind of performance, it is way below expectation when you consider the huge allocation involved, the level of experience of the INEC staff and so many other factors.”

The legal practitioner said INEC could have put in a place a more reasonable and result-oriented plan that would enhance their performance and mitigate such poor outings as we have experienced in the Anambra polls.

Both lawyers agreed that the people of Anambra behaved responsibly by coming out to vote and did not engage in violence.

But they disagreed on security. Umonnan lambasted INEC and Police hierarchy for withholding the allowances due to security personnel deployed for the election. He said, “how do you expect them to play their part when the monies are being held.”

Recall that security personnel deployed to Anambra on Saturday protested the nonpayment of allowances due to them, which accounted for the absence of security personnel in some polling units.

Ojo, on the other hand, opined that the heavy presence of security personnel in the state made the election process more peaceful.

As observed generally, there was heavy deployment of security officers in some places, while some polling units did not have adequate and even non-deployment of officers, a situation that created a slight feeling of fear among voters and electoral officers in those places.