The Anambra governorship election imploded into a total joke this morning, exposing the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as a monument of staggering incompetence that couldn’t even pass the most basic test.
In a move that would surprise anybody but a Nigerian, INEC officials were conspicuously absent from their posts a full thirty minutes after polls were meant to open, turning “iron-clad assurances” into a pathetic lie. The heart of the farce? Polling units Agu Awka 008 and 022—situated a stone’s throw from the INEC state headquarters—stood as ghost towns, a slap-in-the-face irony that highlights an organization in utter chaos.
The scene was pure pandemonium. Eager voters who dared to believe INEC’s promises were left abandoned, their patience met with insulting silence. Even accredited observers could barely contain their fury. Mr. Charles Kwentoh of the JDPC voiced his “disappointment,” a diplomatic understatement for what witnesses are calling an unforgivable sabotage of democracy itself.
This is a developing news story, more details to come later.
