PRESIDENT-General of Ohaneze Ndi Igbo worldwide, Emmanuel Iwuanyawu, has attributed low voter turnout in Imo state to economic challenges faced by the people in the state.
Iwuanyawu stated this after casting his vote at the Attah ward one, polling unit 01 in Ikeduru local government area at 10:45 a.m.
The ICIR confirms low voter turnout at the polling units visited in Owerri municipal, Ikeduru, and Owerri north local government areas.
The statesman also rated the election generally peaceful despite pockets of violence in the Orlu Senatorial district of the state.
He said none of the reports available to him showed violence.
“Imo people are peaceful as a people, and we are Christians. We don’t kill. I have not heard of any place where there is a report of irregularities or violence.
I have been moving around monitoring the election. Every place was peaceful. The problem I witnessed was that people were not turning up enough. The expected crowd may not be there, but there was a peaceful election in Imo state,” he said.
He urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to fulfil its promise of conducting credible elections.
He also urged INEC to declare results to reflect the people’s votes.
The octogenarian advised politicians to have the spirit of sportsmanship.
“I want to thank the security men and women, INEC, for the peaceful election. With what I witnessed and heard, the election was peaceful,” he said.
Harrison Edeh is a journalist with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting, always determined to drive advocacy for good governance through holding public officials and businesses accountable.