There is no request yet to conduct by-election to fill the vacant Anambra South Senatorial District seat following Sen. Ifeanyi Ubah?s death.

Electoral umpire ? Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), said it is awaiting a request from the Senate for the conduct of by-election in the Senatorial Zone.

INEC?s Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Anambra, Dr. Elizabeth Agu, dropped the hint at a stakeholders? dialogue organised by the International Press Centre (IPC) in Awka, Anambra State.

Mrs. Agu, the electoral body had made preparations for the election and was ready to conduct it anytime it received a request from the Senate to fill the vacant seat.

She called on Anambra public, especially politicians, to play by the rules as the state prepared for the November 8 governorship poll.

Assuring that the electoral body would ensure that peoples votes count, the REC said: ?INEC is ready for the Anambra South Senatorial District by-election but the Senate has to write us to request for the replacement of the vacant seat before we can conduct the election.?

In his keynote lecture, Dr. Nkwachukwu Orji, a lecturer at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), said that public trust was crucial to participatory and successful election.

Nkwachukwu, a former REC in the state, said that voter apathy showed that there were things that were wrong in the electoral process including trust deficit.

The don said that though INEC had the constitutional rights to supervise the electoral process, it had allowed members of the society to be part of the process with the aim of boosting public trust.

He said: ?Trust is a process that goes up or down and is affected by fraud and irregularities, unprofessional conduct of officials, poor legal framework, partisan bias and others.

?This is why INEC has transferred the announcement of the result to vice chancellors.?

The Chairman of the programme, Dr. Emeka Ononamadu, said the election process required an interplay of multiple collaborating stakeholders, who must work effectively for a credible outcome. (The Nation)

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