The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, HURIWA, has decried the inability of 40, 000 armed security operatives to ensure adequate security in the inconclusive Anambra State governorship election.
HURIWA described the inconclusive Anambra State governorship election as a fairly long-distance race that must end transparently.
The rights group blamed the disjointed fire-brigade sort of security strategy for the failure of nearly 40,000 armed security operatives to secure just 22 local government areas of Anambra State for a successful one-off gubernatorial poll.
HURIWA said if failure to deploy electoral materials in Ihiala Local Government Area caused the delay in concluding the election, it is a deliberate attempt to undermine the integrity of the electoral process by certain forces embedded within the security architectures.
In a statement signed by its National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, the rights group charged the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Professor Yakubu Mahmood to ensure a transparent end to the contest.
“If 40,000 armed police operatives, soldiers, Naval and Airforce and paramilitary operatives can’t secure Anambra State that is about 67% of the geographical area of Borno State, what is the guarantee that the entire Police of the ECONOMIC COMMUNITY OF WEST AFRICAN STATES would be able to secure the 2023 general election?”
Observing that available empirical evidence claimed that the contest represents one of the most open electoral contestation, the Rights group, however, condemned the fact that in spite of the overwhelming presence of armed policemen, “a rogue electoral officer in one of the local government areas was allowed to disappear with such number of sensitive material for collation of results which led to the entire contest been declared inconclusive because he disenfranchised 40,000 voters in addition to the inability of the over 40,000 armed security forces to be effectively deployed around the 22 LGA councils to secure free, fair, and peaceful conduct of the gubernatorial poll.
“Whereas we are deeply and profoundly impressed by the open and peaceful nature of the election that lasted 48 hours due to avoidable technological glitches of malfunction of the capturing computers, (BIOMODAL VOTERS AUTHENTICATION SYSTEM), we in the HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) are in no way disappointed except for the fact that over 40,000 reported armed Police Operatives, soldiers and other paramilitary troops were even grossly insufficient to stop just one rogue electoral officer from the grand scale attempt to undermine the conclusion of the election in which the courageous electorate have widely made their free and accountable choice of the individual that they so want to govern Anambra State”.
The Rights group expressed bitterness that an election official successfully disappeared with almost the entire result sheets of the governorship election held at a ward in Idemili South Local Government Area.
