The Independent Electoral Commission, INEC, has assured of conducive environment for women to participate actively in the forthcoming
General Election.
The State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Dr Nkwachukwu Orji, gave the assurance during a Town Hall Meeting organized by the commission,
in collaboration with the Women Action Committee, WAC, held in Awka.
The forum which is part of the Commission’s timeline of engaging
critical stakeholders in the electoral process was to address the challenges and other matters before, during and after the election.
Reiterating the Commission’s determination to deliver free, fair and
credible polls, Dr Orji who was represented by the Administrative
Secretary of the Commission, Mr Charles Mbanaja, announced that in the just concluded voters registration exercise conducted by INEC, Anambra
State has emerged the first in South East with a total of two million, four hundred and forty-seven thousand, nine hundred and ninety-six registered voters and eleventh out of the thirty six states of the federation.
He called on women to be confident in the process and come out and vote as the state is safe and secure for all.
In her speech, the Director, Women Action Committee, Professor Mercy Akabogu, who spoke on “Women Participation and the 2019 General
Elections, Rationale and Challenges”, described women as the most critical stakeholders in family affairs and matters affecting society, maintaining that people should handle general elections with utmost sense of patriotism and commitment to eliminate violence against women during the polls.
On his part, the Head, Voter Education and Publicity of INEC, Doctor Leo Nkedife, who gave an update on INEC’s preparedness towards the
2019 General Elections and election day procedure, said non sensitive
materials for the elections have been sent to the Commission’s various
Local Government Offices while sensitive materials are already being
deposited at the Central Bank of Nigeria, noting that everything needed for the elections is properly in place.
In their reactions, the Head of Gender Unit, INEC, Mrs Njideka Okoye, and the Public Relations Officer of INEC, Lady Nneka Eliogu, said that the aim of the meeting was to create awareness on gender base issues in election and provide forum for sharing experiences and approaches that will discourage violence, assuring women that their votes will count.
The meeting was attended by women groups and featured an interactive session.
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