The Abia State Local Government election held Friday, December 18, 2020 was boycotted by majority of eligible voters in the state
BusinessDAY SUNDAY checks revealed that in Aba North Local Government area majority of eligible voters in the area stayed away from polling centres.
There was vehicular movement on major roads, while street shops were open for business, despite restriction on movement by the state government.
Voting materials were deployed late in Ward 1, despite its nearness to Abia State Independent Electoral Commission (ABSIEC) office at Aba North Local Government secretariat. Although no reason was given for the late deployment of materials to the ward, one of the presiding officers, who do not want his name on print, promised to extend voting period from 2.00pm to 3.00pm.
In Eziama ward1, unit 15, which is situated at Eziama High School, only 20 voters had cast their votes as at 12.00pm, out of about 1,300 voters on the voter register.
While in Unit 14, only 15 voters voted as at 12.30pm out of 1,121 registered voters in that unit.
At Eziama Ward 1, Unit 1-10, which is situated at Abia State Polytechnic, Aba campus, electoral officers were seen chatting and waiting for voters, who were nowhere to be found.
Materials were deployed at 10.00am at the centre, while voters were nowhere to be seen.
At Unit 5, ward 1, only 10 eligible voters out of 1000, registered voters on the unit’s register voted as at 1.00pm.
Ebere Nwogu, a resident, attributed the voter apathy to people’s disenchantment with Nigeria’s electoral system.
According to her, people are indifferent about national election, not to talk of local government election. “People are tired of their votes not counting and nonchalant attitude of the ruling class towards the suffering of the people”.
In Aba South, electoral materials were deployed to polling stations at 10am, by ABSIEC, however, voters stayed away, as only party agents and ABSIEC officials were seen chatting and waiting.
Abana Chigozie Abana, an agent of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Aba South, expressed worry over the refusal of people to come to cast their votes. He equally expressed concern over the attitude of ABSIEC officials in the area.
“When we arrived here, they did not allow us to see the documents. But after we insisted, they now obliged us,” he said.
According to Abana, “The ABSIEC officials left the LGA Headquarters with the result sheet of Aba South Ward-13, but when they got to the ward, I was told the sheets disappeared.
“So, I’ve instructed our agents to keep watching if the result sheets fails to reappear, they must return back to LGA Headquarters, because there’ll be no election in that ward without result sheets.
“There was also a time when they tried to move only ABSIEC officials to a certain ward, but we stopped such. Aside these issues, I haven’t seen any more problems for now.”
When newsmen approached the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) agent in Aba South, who was once a Deputy Chairman of the LGA, he said he would never speak as he was not instructed to speak to the press.
Meanwhile, many residents blamed the Mkpa Agu Mkpa-led ABSIEC for not sensitising residents enough about the election.
Majority of the residents said that they obeyed the stay at home order, because it came from the state government.
Elections around some locations in Osisioma Local Government Area also faced hitches, as no voter was seen at the polling units visited in the area.
Unconfirmed report at Osisioma LGA headquarters had it that a man in his 50s, fair in complexion and identified as the local government electoral officer, refused to talk to the press.
“We are not allowed to grant interviews to the press” was his only comment when pressed to tell this reporter what the situation was like in his area.
However, an electoral officer who also did not give his name stated that electoral materials were moved out to the polling stations at 9.00am.
A visit to some locations used as polling centres by Abia ABSIEC for the elections showed that there were no persons in some of the locations at about 9:30 am.
At Abayi-Umueze primary school with some units, there was neither ABSIEC personnel nor voters seen at the polling Centre at the same period.
At Abia State University School, Abayi, only one out of two polling units in the school was functional at this time.
Daniel Ahuchaogu, the electoral officer for Ward 3, Unit 11, told newsmen that they were deployed to the school by 7 am, but had not seen any voter by 9 am.
He explained that personnel manning Ward 3 Unit 10 went to bring “something”.
Although there was nobody at the Osisioma bus-stop market at the time our correspondent visited, people were seen moving about their business without hitches.
This marks the second time that Governor Okezie Ikpeazu-led administration in Abia State, is conducting local government election in the state, which is unprecedented in the history of the state. Past administrations in the state used transition committees to administer the LGAs.
