November 16, 2013
Accreditation
of voters was delayed in Aguleri on Saturday as INEC officials insited
that a billboard of one of the parties in the Anambra governorship
election be pulled down.
The billboard of the APGA governorship
candidate, Mr Willy Obiano, and his running mate,
Dr Okeke Chukwukaodinaka, was mounted metres away from the polling unit
near the Aguleri roundabout, contrary to electoral laws.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports
that INEC regulations do not allow for campaigns or posters of
candidates near election grounds 24 hours to the election.
INEC adhoc officials who arrived at the
polling unit before 8 a.m. for accreditation of voters, insisted that
the billboard be dismantled before anything could be done.
Similarly, some members of the
electorate at the unit protested the presence of the billboard and
insisted that it must be brought down.
The presiding officer for Unit 004
told NAN that there was no way she could allow the accreditation with
the billboard just a few metres from the unit.
“This billboard is so conspicous that it
is against our mandate as electoral officers. I can only continue with
this election when the billboard is dismantled,” she said.
She confirmed that those on ground for
the accreditation had appealed to her to move the polling unit to a
nearby space that would not show the billboard but she had declined.
“My reasons are simply because this
polling unit is where we registered the voters and I cannot move to
another point without superior directive.
“I have spoken to my supervisory presiding officer who said I should remain at my assigned unit,” she said.
The APGA agent for the unit, Mr Peter Nneli, explianed that the billboard was erected long before the election.
“This billboard is not for the purpose of campaign and cannot be easily dismantled,” Nneli said.
Accreditation eventually kicked off in
the unit at 10.25 a.m, more than two hours behind shedule after
the billborad was dismantled by youths from the town
