National Chairman of the Independent Electoral Commission, INEC, Prof. Attahiru Jega yesterday disclosed that the sensitive materials to be used for conduct Saturday's governorship election in Anambra State have been modified with security features.
Jega said the modification was done to achieve credible polls and as an improvement on other elections the commission had conducted. He disclosed that ballot papers now have security features with serial numbers in all the polling units, just as the result sheets would be given out to the electoral officers together with ballot papers unlike the previous practise where result sheets arrived at the polling units later in the day and sometimes found missing.
Jega made the disclosures in Awka yesterday when INEC held the governorship election 2013 stakeholders' forum.
Jega refuted the allegation that his commission created extra polling booths for the election, explaining that what happened was that polling centres with greater number of voters up to 3000 were broken down into voting points within the same booth.
He noted that the subdivision was to make for easier accreditation and voting so as to meet up with the timing for the election particularly for accreditation that ends by 12p.m.
He also disclosed that the previously faulty Anambra voters' register has been corrected with authenticated 1, 784, 536 voters, and advised polling agents to take record of the ballot boxes as all of them are serially numbered.
Jega said: "All the polling units have good voters' register and if your name is not in the register and go there to vote, the police will arrest you. We have done our best to improve on the integrity of the election, we identified mistakes and we have corrected them, we therefore plead with stakeholders to please help us conduct credible election.
"Money sharing is an electoral offence and INEC is ready to prosecute the offenders. For now, we do not have effective monitor of candidate's expenditure but for 2015 elections, we will monitor candidates' expenditure but there has to be solid evidence of financial inducement before INEC can take action."
Jega also disclosed that about four polling centres were discovered in Oyi Local Government by his commission to have existed inside bushes where human beings did not reside, but we have relocated the polling booths to Nteje where they are needed.
Jega said voting would commence at exactly 12.30p.m. after every check had been completed in a secret ballot box placed in the open.
The INEC chairman urged voters to shun voting more than once and that selling of voters' card would not be allowed.
He said that INEC would adhere strictly to its oneman- one vote policy during the election.
The Resident Electoral Commissioner, Prof. Chukwuemeka Onukaogu, said the distribution of election materials would be done on November 14 and 15.
Among the candidates that attended the Forum were that of the All Progressive Grand Alliance, APGA, Chief Willie Obiano; Dr. Chris Ngige of the All Progresseves Congress, APC; Chief Godwin Ezeemo, Peoples Progressives Alliance, PPA; Dr. Ifeatu Ekelem ,Aaron Igweze, AD, among others.
I guess it's all happening now so let's just hope everything goes according to plan