Election Manipulation Gone for Good in Abia, Says REC

By Emmanuel Ugwu in Umuahia

The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) of Abia State, Dr. Joseph Iloh, has vowed that no form of electoral manipulation would be allowed to feature in the forthcoming general election in the state.

He gave this assurance at the weekend at a lecture he delivered at the fifth triennial delegates’ conference of the Nigeria Union of journalists (NUJ), Abia State Council, saying voters in the state no longer have any cause not to have confidence in INEC. 

The REC noted that many prospective voters in the state still recall their past experience when they said their votes did not count hence their apathy to participate in the ongoing voter registration exercise. 

But Iloh advised the voters to stop dwelling in the past as INEC has put in place “election project plan” which would ensure credible polls, adding that no fraudster would be allowed to have a field day in the forthcoming polls. 

“Under my watch, every vote cast in Abia State will count,” he vowed, adding: “Believe in INEC,  we shall do it (right),”  therefore, the 2019 poll would in no way be like the previous ones that people rejected on the basis that their votes did not count. 

He said if voters continue to wallow in their ugly experiences of the past, there was no way Nigeria would make progress in its democratic governance, noting that the rebranded INEC has continued to develop a lot of innovations that would make election credible and acceptable.

“We have taken note of all the lapses in the last elections and we are working very hard to overcome such lapses,” Iloh stated. 

The state REC lamented that the business segment of the society find it very difficult to sacrifice their time to register and obtain their permanent voter cards (PVCs), pointing out that such apathy has contributed in the past to reduce the state voting strength. 

He emphasised that the state has no reason to be credited with 1.39 million registered voters in 2015 when the densely populated commercial city of Aba alone could have yielded more than the number of voters credited to the entire state. 

He, therefore, charged the people of the state to take voter registration and participation in the electoral process very serious as people would have no basis to complain about the outcome of any election they did not participate in. 

“When good people in a community refuse to come out and vote, the rest of the people would vote and the good people would end up complaining about the choice made by those that voted,” Iloh stated.