A Chieftain of Labour Party in Anambra State and one of the coordinators of Oga Ndi Oga Movement, Prince Austin Onyekaba has raised objection on the 45 days notice given by Anambra State Independent Electoral Commission (ANSIEC) to political parties to prepare for Local Government election in Anambra State arguing that 45days is not enough to prepare for a credible, free and fair election across the 21 Local Governments and 326 wards in the State.
Recall that Chairman of ANSIEC Mrs Genevieve Osakwe, a Magistrate on Monday announced that the much awaited Local Government election will hold on Saturday, September 28, 24 in a letter she personally signed and addressed to political parties and the general public of the State.
Onyekaba who was a member of Peter Obi Presidential Campaign Council during the 2023 general election, told journalists at his office in Awka that going by experience it takes not less than 90days for ANSIEC or even the national electoral umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as well as political parties to prepare well enough to conduct a credible, free and fair election at any levels noting that it has always taken INEC 90 days to prepare for bye elections when need be.
He further cited the case of neighboring States such as Enugu and Imo States as examples respectively noting that the Enugu State Local Government election which is scheduled to hold on October 5, 2024 was announced by the State electoral commission way back in May 2024 which is about 180days ahead while that of Imo State which is scheduled to hold on September 21, 2025 was announced by the State electoral commission in June 2024 which is about 90days ahead.
He goes further to argue “how can we use 45days to prepare for election in 21 Local Governments and 326 wards involving no fewer than 18 political parties?. Less we forget there is going to be campaign for party nominations by aspirants who want to contest for chairmanship and councilorship, then political parties will screen the aspirants and conduct primary elections before going into State wide campaign for the main elections, so how do we get all these done within 45days”
He admitted that the Local Government in Anambra State is long over due and being much awaited for but nevertheless, he insisted that the election requires more time than 45days as according to him “hence the State government has decided to conduct the election, let’s give it enough time to prepare and do it well. ANSIEC should take more time to prepare so also political parties including aspirants and security agents. That’s my personal opinion based on my experience so, I am not speaking for Labour Party alone but for all political parties.
