Imo LG Election: ISIEC Pledges Free/Fair Exercise & Level Playing Ground For All

AMBROSE NWAOGWUGWU

The Imo State Independent Electoral Commission (ISIEC) has pledged to conduct a free and fair election, ensuring a level playing field for all political parties.

The election will take place in all 305 wards and 4,758 polling units across the state, ISIEC has assured while affirming that the state electoral commission is ready for the exercise and re-stating that September 21, 2024 scheduled date for the election remains unchanged and sacrosanct.

The chairman stated this in his Orlu Road office when a team of government house media crew visited to ascertain the commission’s readiness for the scheduled election.

Chief Ejiogu assured Imolites and all aspirants from various political parties that his commission is poised to deliver a credible election that is fair to all contestants, promising to provide a level playing field for all political party participants.

The state electoral umpire confirmed that the election will take place on Saturday in all 305 INEC wards of the state, comprising 4,758 polling units (PUs).

Providing a breakdown of the commission’s preparedness, the ISIEC boss informed that the revalidation of all aspirants who are party candidates is currently ongoing noting that it is left for the political parties to screen their aspirants while the commission revalidates those already screened by the political parties.

He also mentioned that the training of the commission’s 15,000 adhoc staff will commence tomorrow (Thursday) alongside other preparations for the smooth conduct of the election.

Regarding the voter’s registers, Chief Ejiogu revealed that the commission will use the voter’s registers from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), which will be displayed at each polling unit on election day. He noted that for security reasons, they will not paste the register until the election day.

He also revealed that election observers who are in their numerous numbers have already been screened and accredited by the commission.

Further detailing the commission’s readiness, Chief Ejiogu stated that so far, the participating political parties have been cooperative with the commission’s preparatory activities as they are confident with the processes to deliver a fair outcome.

He provided the following data on the participating political parties:

For Councillorship Positions:

APC: 305 Candidates
PRP: 305 Candidates
APM: 305 Candidates
YP: 305 Candidates
ZLP: 305 Candidates
APP: 305 Candidates
SDP: 305 Candidates
ADC: 305 Candidates
ADP: 298 Candidates
PDP: 265 Candidates
APGA: 256 Candidates
AA: 71 Candidates
YPP: 42 Candidates
Accord: 9 Candidates.

For Chairmanship Positions:

APC: 27 Candidates
PRP: 27 Candidates
APM: 27 Candidates
ZLP: 27 Candidates
PDP: 27 Candidates
ADC: 27 Candidates
APGA: 27 Candidates
ADP: 27 Candidates
YP: 27 Candidates
SDP: 27 Candidates
AA: 15 Candidates
Accord: 6 Candidates
NLPP: 1 Candidate
NNPP: 1 Candidate.