Human rights group, Int’l Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety) has warned against rigging of Anambra gubernatorial election, saying that the state would become a ‘Nomadic Rainforest State’ if the poll is either rigged or scuttled.

Intersociety gave the warning in a statement jointly signed by it Board Chair, Emeka Umeagbalasi, Convener, Southeast Based Coalition of Democracy & Human Rights Organizations, Chidimma Evangeline Udegbunam, Esquire, Head of Publicity, Intersociety, Prof Jerry Chukwuokor, Dr Okezie Kelechi (SBCHROs) and Comrade Aloysius Attah (Southeast CLO) on Wednesday.

Intersociety which said Anambra State was running at high speed and risk s becoming a ‘Nomadic Rainforest State’ painted different scenarios that may result from various forces threatening the peaceful and successful conduct of the poll.

According to Intersociety, if the November 6, 2021 Governorship Poll is scuttled by ‘sit-at-home’ ghost street protest or massively rigged by state actor poll riggers, adding that it would be the end-product as a result of tensions and fears created by the activities of agitators, including threats to scuttle the Poll with ‘sit-at-home’ as well as crude, unprofessional and poor handling styles of the Nigerian Government and its security agencies.

On account of ‘Sit-at-Home’ or ‘ghost street’ protest by the agitators, intersociety explained that all streets, public and private offices and social centre, commuters and commercial road, water and rail transportations and vehicle movements would be grounded and deserted to the extent that not even INEC adhoc and substantive staffers and members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) can move or be conveyed to the State’s 5,720 polling booths and 326 electoral ward collation centers.

“Under these conditions, too, members of the voting population and the general public are forced to stay indoors, adding that the only persons capable of moving around will be security personnel who will be creating more tensions and fears,” Intersociety warned.

“These, if allowed,” it said, “will be a clear case of total breakdown of law and order, thereby making the conduct of the Poll an act of impossibility and declaration of ‘State-of-Emergency’ urgently possible and inexcusable.

The group also noted that massive rigging of the Anambra Governorship Poll could occur once there were semblances of movements of persons and properties, including public and commercial vehicles and commuters and opening of some public and private offices; all amidst tensions and fears, forcing majority of the citizen population, including independent and conscientious voters out of the streets and roads.

“The massive rigging is expected to arise from widespread scientific and manual doctoring of franchise papers and biometrics including massive uploading of procured PVCs as ‘validly cast votes’, thump-printing of ballot papers and hoarding of ‘FormEC8As’ and keeping them away from being used on Election Day as well as massive vote buying. The chief rigger, INEC, will cash in on Anambra’s 2.2m PVCs to manufacture, award, announce and declare bogus figures or “dead votes” and impose a favored “Electoral Armed Robber” as “winner” and “Governor-Elect,” it added.

The statement read further: “Anambra Governorship Election scheduled for 6th November 2021 is expertly found by Democracy and Good Governance Department of Intersociety to have no iota of negative impact on the ongoing self-determination agitation.

“Rather, holding it and allowing voters to vote will raise more public consciousness and supports required and further serve as a litmus test for the agitation and emancipation of the Southeast. The Election, if popularly conducted and won will also ensure the safety of the electoral mandate of the majority of the Anambra voters and loyalty and allegiance of the winner to Anambra People as well as security and safety of their faiths, boundaries and territories.

“To allow the Election to be massively and scientifically rigged or to be stopped will be disastrously calamitous” and would place and plunge the State into “a nomadic rainforest state,” it observed.

It also cautioned against the act of stopping Elections and dead votes, saying it can boomerang in the time of possible referendum.

It alleged that the announcement by the Police and Military authorities of massive deployment of security personnel in Anambra State was clearly a deliberate ploy to scare voters away so as to massively supervise the rigging of the Anambra Governorship Poll in favor of their candidate.

According to the statement, “A clear case in point was the announcement by the Inspector General of Police of ‘deployment of 34,587 personnel” and further deployment of additional 100 senior police officers, among them include “two DIGs, five AIGs, fourteen CPs, thirty-one DCPs and forty-eight ACPs.”

Intersociety noted that the above deployment was in addition to over 150 senior police officers (SPs/CSPs to CPs) in the State manning over 100 different police formations.

“Just recently, the National Security Adviser, Retired Major General Babagana Monguno disclosed that the President has ordered massive deployment of security forces to Anambra State “even if it means overwhelming the Anambra electoral environment with security forces.”

“This further means that Anambra will be flooded with not less than 100,000-150,000 police, spy police and military personnel and those of the paramilitaries and they will possibly outnumber the voters and become Government hired ‘voters’ or ‘thump-printers’. These are nothing short of ‘turning Anambra Governorship Poll into a “lucrative bazaar” and a “rigging field,” the statement read.

Explaining further, intersociety expressed fears that “should the poll be rigged, the State will clandestinely approve massive movement of jihadist Herdsmen and other jihadist mercenaries across Nigeria and outside the country into Anambra’s forests, bushes, farmlands and urban cities with intents to terrorize, kill, abduct, rape, loot, pillage, plunder and Islamize the region.”

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