THE Labour Party (LP) governorship candidate in Anambra State, George Moghalu, has cast his vote at polling Unit 017, Iba Okpunoeze Hall 2, Uruago Ward 1, in Nnewi North Local Government Area.
Moghalu arrived at the polling unit around 11:30 a.m., where he was accredited before casting his vote.
Addressing journalists shortly after, he expressed disappointment over the low voter turnout observed across several polling units in Nnewi North, describing it as a worrying sign of the people’s waning trust in the electoral process.
“Voter apathy is the manifestation of the lack of confidence people have in INEC,” Moghalu said.
He added that the government weaponised poverty against the people, adding that as long as citizens remained impoverished, it would be difficult to expect truly free and fair elections.
Meanwhile, data from his polling unit and surrounding areas reflect the low participation he claimed.
As of 12:00 p.m., at Polling Unit 017, where Moghalu voted, only 69 out of 463 registered voters had been accredited.
In the nearby Polling Unit 016, in the same Iba Okpunoeze Hall 2, Uruago Ward 1, there were 123 accredited voters out of 856 registered, while Polling Unit 018 recorded 86 accredited voters out of 563 registered.
Across Urugua Ward, several polling units at the Cooperative Centre, Nnewi North, also witnessed poor turnout. At Polling Unit 011 (Cooperative Centre 1), only 28 out of 188 registered voters had been accredited as of 10:50 a.m, according to the presiding officer who spoke with The ICIR.
Similarly, Polling Unit 012 (Cooperative Centre 2), which began voting around 9:00 a.m., accredited just 41 out of 422 registered voters as of 11:00 a.m., according to presiding officer Mubarak Adam.
At Polling Unit 013 (Cooperative Centre 3), only fewer than 100 of 796 registered voters had voted by midday, further illustrating the low participation trend.
A Labour Party agent who spoke with The ICIR alleged that his party was struggling to attract votes because it refused to engage in voter inducement, claiming that “other parties are openly giving out money to voters.”
Earlier, in an exclusive interview with The ICIR at his residence in Iba Okpunoeze, Nnewi North, Moghalu discussed the challenges of vote buying, voter inducement, and election security, urging the authorities and electoral officials to maintain fairness and transparency throughout the process.
Despite the low turnout, election officers at the units confirmed that voting was ongoing peacefully, with no reports of malfunctioning BVAS devices or security breaches.
Police officers were also on ground to ensure a calm voting environment.
The election, which began early Saturday across the state’s 21 local government areas, has been peaceful.
Some areas reported early arrival of voters and smooth accreditation, others, including parts of Nnewi North, have seen a sluggish turnout.
Mustapha Usman is an investigative journalist with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: musman@icirnigeria.com. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M