Newsonline Nigeria reports that November 11, 2023 is election day in Imo State, Nigeria’s Southeast and Newsonline Nigeria team are on ground to bring you all the live updates and happenings.
This Nigeria news platform understands that voters across the 27 local government areas of Imo State head to the polls to elect the governor of the state for the next four years.
According to the final list of candidates published in October by INEC, 18 candidates are contesting the election.
Figures published by INEC on its portal show that there are 2,419,922 registered voters in the state, but only 2,318,919 collected their permanent voter cards (PVCs) and are eligible to vote in the election on Saturday. The registered voters are 6.5 per cent more than the 2,272,293 recorded for the 2019 elections in the state.
Voting will take place at 4,758 polling units (PU) in 305 registration areas. However, 38 PUs have no registered voters and will not open on the day.
The three senatorial districts in Imo State are categorised into Owerri zone (Imo East), Orlu zone ( Imo West) and Okigwe zone ( Imo North).
Owerri zone has nine LGAs—Aboh Mbaise, Ahiazu Mbaise,Ezinihitte Mbaise, Ikeduru, Mbaitoli, Ngor Okpala, Owerri Municipal, Owerri North and Owerri West.
Okigwe has six LGAs (Ehime Mbano, Ihitte/Uboma, Isiala Mbano, Obowo, Okigwe, Onuimo) , while Orlu has 12 LGAs. These are Ideato North, Ideato South, Isu, Niaba, Nkwerre, Nwangele, Oguta, Ohaji/Egbema, Orlu, Orsu, Oru East and Oru West.
However, according to data published on INEC portal, Owerri Zone with nine LGAs emerged as the zone with the highest number of PVCs collected for the 2023 governorship poll in the state.
A review of the zonal data showed that 1,032,405 voters collected their PVCs in Owerri Zone, while in Orlu Zone 890,702 voters collected their PVCs. Okigwe Zone has the fewest voters with 395,812 collecting their PVCs in the area ahead of the election on Saturday.
According to the INEC’s data, there are slightly more women among the voters. A total of 1,199,263 (49.9 per cent) are male, while 1,220,659 (50.1 per cent) are female.
Of these figures, 33 per cent of the voters fall between the age bracket of 18 and 34 years, while the age group of 35-49 years (middle-aged) represent 33 per cent of the registered voters.
Also, 23 per cent ( 559,122) fall under the age group of 50 -67 years and only 276,492 (12 per cent) are 70 years and above. A total of 1,225 are people with disabilities.
Newsonline Nigeria is currently in the state that prides itself as the “Eastern Heartland” and will bring you live updates,analysis, situation reports from the governorship election…….Please stay connected with us by always refreshing this page
The Deputy Inspector General of Police in charge of Imo State governorship election, Frank Mba, has said the police is ready to provide adequate security for the voters saying the state is not a war zone nor on fire.
Mba made the disclosure while addressing newsmen on the level of preparedness for the Saturday polls on Friday at the command headquarters, Owerri.
According to him, the police and other security agencies will do everything operationally and administratively to provide a level playing ground for all the political parties.
The DIG said: “Whatever the security concerns of the state, they are not unsurmountable because they are clearly things we can surmount. I’m positive that we will deliver.”
An election observer group, Yiaga Africa, has predicted low voter turnout for the Imo, Bayelsa, and Kogi Governorship elections despite a high collection rate of permanent voter cards.
The organisation based the prediction on the “pre-election violence, a deep sense of citizens’ distrust, apparent fear of intimidation, voter fatigue and loss of faith in elections as a means to achieving democratic leadership.”
To avoid the situation, Yiaga Africa advocated for eleventh-hour confidence-building voter education to improve voter turnout.
A member of the Board of Yiaga Africa, Ezenwa Nwagwu stated this during a pre-election press conference on Friday in Abuja.
The organisation would be deploying 659 duly trained and accredited stationary and roving observers to observe the conduct of the governorship election in the three states.
According to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the number of Permanent Voters Cards (PVC) collected in Bayelsa was 1,017,613, in Imo, 2,318,919 and 1,833,160 in Kogi state.
“Despite these high collection rates, Yiaga Africa projects low voter turnout in the respective states owing to the spate of pre-election violence, a deep sense of citizens’ distrust, apparent fear of intimidation, voter fatigue and loss of faith in elections as a means to achieving democratic leadership. Yiaga Africa advocates for eleventh-hour confidence-building voter education to improve voter turnout.”
He said at the end of the polls, Yiaga Africa observers would be deployed to all LGAs and State’s results collation centres to observe and report the results collation process.
Nwagwu said: “This will involve deploying 600 stationary observers to a representative randomly selected sample of 300 polling units for each of these 2 states. In addition to the PRVT methodology, Yiaga Africa will deploy 9 observers in Bayelsa State to observe the process and LGA results collation.
“This deployment will enable Yiaga Africa to provide the most timely and accurate information on the governorship elections in the states. Using the Process and Results Verification for Transparency (PRVT), Yiaga Africa will also provide an independent projection of voter turnout in Imo and Kogi States and will be able to project the vote shares that each party should receive within a narrow-estimated range. If the official results fall within Yiaga Africa’s estimated ranges, then the public, political parties, and candidates should have confidence in the ballots cast at the polling units.
“Only INEC has the legal mandate to announce the election results. As soon as INEC announces the official results, Yiaga Africa will follow up with a result verification press conference to share its statement on the accuracy of the election results. Utilising information communications technology and statistical principles, PRVT is the gold standard for citizen election observation and has been utilised throughout Africa and the world. Yiaga Africa has also deployed this methodology in the 2019 & 2023 Presidential elections and in 14 State Governorship Elections.”
Yiaga Africa also called on INEC to ensure the operational shortcomings in previous elections are properly addressed ahead of the elections, especially the early deployment of election materials to all polling units.
He said: “Collation and Returning Officers deployed in the election should be individuals of proven integrity and impeccable character. INEC should ensure effective oversight to enforce compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022 and guidelines on results collation.
“INEC should ensure proper and timely communication with stakeholders on the election day process, challenges experienced and immediate plans to address those challenges to inspire citizens’ confidence in the process.”
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