Ihiala Local government area has been noted to be the most violent council area in terms of election, with a huge stockpile of arms by youths of the area.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC),
Anambra State resident electoral commission, Engr Ediwn Nwatarali noted this when an Ihiala based Non Governmental Organisation, NGO, Ihiala LGA Grassroot Progressive Initiative paid a courtesy call to him in his office.
The REC said the local government is so prone to violence as a result of sharp political divisions and the inability of political chieftains in the area to see politics as a game.
“In your place, your people take politics to the extreme, and they go a length to pursue their ambition. They have strong arms base, and in the last election, it took the military to be able to combat them as they overpowered and drove the police away.”
The REC said it is prepared to partner relevant stakeholders and bodies to improve on the electoral process by reducing tension and frictions in future elections in the state.
Speaking when he received officials of the Ihiala Local Government Area Grassroot Progressive Initiative , a non-governmental organization, in his office at the weekend in Awka, the Resident Electoral Officer (REC) in the state, Engr. Edwin Offor Nwatarali, decried the high level of frictions and tension at elections experienced in some parts of the state in the last general election.
Nwatarali further expresses shock over the deployment of arms and other dangerous weapons by some politicians and their supporters to intimidate and harrass their opponents during the elections and pointed out that the need for the people, especially the political class, to know that elections are never a-do- or-die affair
While welcoming the visiting team the INEC boss advised on the need for every concerned stakeholder to evolve means and get down to the grassroots and mount enlightenment campaigns against violence and electoral fraud for enhanced political development of their areas.
Earlier in his speech, the chairman, Ihiala Local Government Arear Grassroot Progressive Initiative, Barr.Nsofor Chukwuemeka, said his organization was formed to encourage economic and political cohesion of members and none members in the polity through creation of awareness on issues affecting them.
He further explained the association would serve as a veritable catalyst for the economic and political emancipation of its members and the entire Ihiala Local Government area and the state at large, thus pointing out the need for a partnership with the electoral umpire on its sensitization programmes
