Politics
Chidoka Wants Adequate Security For Anambra Re-run
Rep. Obinna Chidoka seeking re-election for Idemili North and Idemili South Federal Constituency has called on security agents in Anambra State to ensure adequate security ahead of re-run election by INEC in his constituency.
It would be recalled that was the only Constituency out of the 11 constituencies in Anambra which result was declared inconclusive by INEC after February 23 elections.
Our correspondent gathered that violence, snatching of ballot boxes and sundry malpractices marred the exercise in 35 out of 65 polling units in the area which resulted to the cancellation.
Chidoka, candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the election told newsmen on Sunday in Obosi that adequate security should be on ground to forestall a repeat of the February 23 incident.
The lawmaker decried the harassment and injuries inflicted on innocent electorate and election officials especially corps members by gunmen allegedly backed by a candidate in the election.
“During the February 23 Presidential and National Assembly elections, I cast my vote peacefully at about 10 am and left. At about 1pm, I received a distress call that armed thugs were at the School of Health, Obosi beating up people, destroying and carting away election materials.
“My people identified the leader of the group, invited security agencies who repelled the hoodlums and stopped them from causing further commotion.
“Around 6pm I got several calls that the same candidate that masterminded the attack was going from polling unit to polling unit in Odume to snatch INEC materials and setting them on fire.
“The ugly incident also took place in Awada, where a clergyman sent us message to come and witness the election materials that were scattered there which we later brought to the collation centre.
“At Chuke Memorial Primary school collation centre, around 10pm the gunmen stormed the venue and started shooting again, they destroyed result sheets and carted away materials making it difficult for collation of results in Obosi,” he said.
He said it was for this obvious incident of insecurity that he was appealing to security agents to ensure adequate security during the re-run election scheduled for March 9 by INEC. Chidoka however, expressed concern that INEC was able to use the copies of polling units results produced by Anambra Police Commissioner to collate and declare the presidential and Anambra Central Senatorial elections, but failed to do so in his constituency.
He said the results of 26 polling units all in Obosi were missing, but wondered why some polling units in Abatete also in Idemili North where there was no violence were cancelled and scheduled for repeat.
Chidoka said the antics were aimed at denying him the mandate given to him by the people but insisted that the electorate in the area were willing and committed to back his re-election bid due to his performance.
Dennis Naku
Prof. Amupitan gave the warning on Saturday, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, during the South-South Zonal Readiness Assessment and Interactive Staff Engagement organised ahead of the 2027 general elections.
He said insecurity remained a potential challenge to the electoral process but stressed that the Commission would not allow threats against its personnel to undermine its constitutional responsibilities.
“Insecurity may pose a challenge, but our collective constitutional resolve is far stronger. Let me again send a clear message from Port Harcourt: anyone who attempts to threaten, intimidate, or harm our ad-hoc staff, NYSC members, or permanent personnel will be brought to justice under the full weight of the law,” he said.
The INEC Chairman, who was accompanied by National Commissioners, directors and technical aides, disclosed that the South-South engagement was the fifth in a series of zonal assessments, following similar exercises in the South-West, North-West, South-East and North-East.
He explained that his physical presence across the geopolitical zones reflected the Commission’s field-first approach, emphasising that electoral integrity must be established through effective operations at the grassroots.
According to him, the assessment would cover operational preparedness across the 123 Local Government Areas in the six South-South states.
On election security, Prof. Amupitan said INEC had moved away from reactive security arrangements traditionally activated around election day to a proactive, intelligence-driven framework known as the “ICCES Tentacle”.
He explained that the framework was designed to extend inter-agency security coordination from national and state headquarters to local government areas and Registration Area Centres, including remote communities.
He identified three critical pillars of the framework as mapping and mitigating security threats, protecting electoral personnel and infrastructure, and guaranteeing safe access to polling units.
The INEC boss said the security arrangement would provide comprehensive protection for electoral personnel, technological infrastructure, including Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) devices and server infrastructure, as well as voters.
He added that the framework was intended to ensure that every polling unit, irrespective of its geographical location or history of security challenges, remained safe and accessible for the exercise of democratic rights.
Prof. Amupitan disclosed that the South-South security architecture comprised approximately 60 major operational formations, headquarters and state commands operating under the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES).
The network, he said, brings together military, naval, air, police and other security and intelligence agencies across the six states.
“Together, this integrated multi-agency network represents the operational backbone that guarantees intelligence-led protection across every riverine creek, coastal axis, and land-based polling unit in the Niger Delta,” he stated.
Providing an overview of the region’s electoral significance, the INEC Chairman said the South-South had the fourth-largest voting bloc in the country, with 15,823,550 registered voters, representing 15.30 per cent of the national register.
Rivers State alone, he said, accounts for 3,736,434 registered voters spread across the 23 local government areas.
Alhaji Abubakar made the demand following revelations that some INEC registration officers allegedly abused their access to the voter registration system to introduce irregular records into the database.
In a statement issued by his Director of Strategic Communications, Mr Phrank Shaibu, the former vice-president described the development as a serious breach of the Commission’s internal safeguards and raised concerns about the integrity of the electoral process.
He urged INEC to identify the officials implicated in the alleged misconduct and explain what disciplinary or legal measures had been taken against them.
Alhaji Abubakar also called for an independent forensic audit of the preliminary voters’ register to establish the scale of the alleged manipulation, identify affected records and determine how the questionable entries were introduced into the system.
He further insisted that INEC preserve all relevant voter records, image files, system access logs and electronic audit trails to prevent the destruction or alteration of evidence before an independent examination could be conducted.
The former vice-president also demanded that the Commission disclose the identities of companies contracted to produce sensitive election materials ahead of the 2027 polls, arguing that transparency was essential to building public confidence in the electoral process.
INEC’s Director of Information and Communication Technology, Dr Lawrence Bayode, had earlier disclosed during a television interview that some registration officers across the country allegedly used their official login credentials to introduce irregularities into the voters’ database.
Dr Bayode explained that the Commission’s Automated Biometric Identification System helped identify questionable records and establish how some irregularities entered the system.
He, however, clarified that not all suspicious photographs were AI-generated, as some resulted from poor registration procedures.
The development followed public concerns over suspected AI-generated photographs, alleged duplicate entries and other inconsistencies discovered in the preliminary voters’ register published online on October 26, 2026.
INEC has maintained that the published document is a preliminary register and that it is reviewing questionable records ahead of the certification of the final Register of Voters.
The controversy has intensified calls for greater transparency and accountability in the management of the voters’ register as preparations gather momentum for the 2027 general elections.
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