Pre-election litigations and conflicting court orders after the primaries for the November 6 Anambra State governorship election is giving the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) worry; hence it has called on the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and other stakeholders to wade in.
The Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee of INEC, Festus Okoye, expressed the concerns yesterday at the implementation meeting of the Voter Education and Publicity Department for the Anambra poll held in Awka.
Noting that the development could disrupt the smooth conduct of the election, Okoye pleaded with the bar and the bench to intervene in the disturbing trend.
There has been a spate of ex parte orders secured by political gladiators ahead of the election.
According to Okoye, some of the orders have the tendency of eroding the powers of the commission and compromising its independence, powers and timelines for the conduct of the forthcoming election.
He also said that out of the over one million persons who registered online, over 700,000 were between 18 and 34 years of age. “This clearly tells us that youths are taking interest in politics.”
