The governorship election in Anambra State which held yesterday,Saturday,Februaray 6,2010 once more presented a reflection of the eagerness of Nigerians for democracy as well as the challenges confronting the development of electoral democracy  in the country. On both counts, there is ample ground to be optimistic about the future of democracy in Nigeria.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) commends the people of Anambra State especially for the success of the governorship election on Saturday February 6^th 2010. As with the rest of the country, Anambra state has had a rather chequered experience with electoral democracy.

From all indications, the people were eager and out to do their part to make the governorship election successful. That eagerness manifested not only in the readiness of the people to come out in a n orderly manner to perform their civic duty of voting, but also in the patience they showed in the face of some challenges in the administration of the election.

There was no missing the point that the people were largely matured and civilized in their conduct during the elections and did not lend themselves for any acts of disorderliness or violence which has been the bane of elections in many parts of the country.Clearly, the people of Anambra State wanted to make a statement that elections and electoral democracy have a bright future in Anambra State. The Commission commends them.

Twenty five candidates contested for the governorship election. The candidates ran a very spirited and competitive race. It speaks very well and commendably so of the candidates and Anambra State that in spite of the tight contest and heated campaigns by the candidates and their parties, there was no report of violent clash or act of brigandage throughout the campaign and during the election itself.

The Commission congratulates the governorship contestants. By the very act of their contesting in the election, each and all of the candidates are winners and contributors to the growth of democracy in Nigeria. We recommend to the winner of the election, the incumbent governor of the state, to extend a hand of fellowship to the other contestants and explore the opportunity of building a new cohesion and peace in Anambra state starting from the February 6, 2010 election.

In conducting the governorship election in Anambra state on February 6^th, the Commission deployed three Resident Electoral Commissioners from other states to join the Resident Electoral Commissioner in Anambra State. No less than 5000 staff of the Commission and 4000 members of the National Youth Service Corps were also deployed from different states of the Federation for the assignment. To all these diligent and patriotic citizens, the Commission is grateful and commends them for proving that with a greater sense of commitment and a better environment for the conduct of elections, the fair and free election which Nigerians yearn for can always be delivered to them by the Commission.

The Nigerian Police also deserves commendation for partnering effectively with the Commission in terms of providing security for the election. It is on record that the Police not only deployed an upward of 20,000 of its men to Anambra state to provide security for the election, but also had on the ground a Deputy Inspector of Police to supervise the performance of the policemen  on duty during this period. Even the Inspector General of Police was physically involved in ensuring a condusive environment for the election.

The process of building the structure and culture for a viable electoral democracy can be tasking. For nations that get it right, what is required in the main is sincerity of purpose, perseverance and consistence in the effort to get it right.

The Commission is aware that the governorship election in Anambra state did not go without its fair share of challenges and administrative shortcomings. But it has always known that for every human Endeavour there will always be imperfection and room for improvement. In adopting the strategy of adaptive management in its operations, the Commission has always acknowledged that its activities may record certain shortcomings, and so it is consistently learning from the past and adjusting its operations to correct any identified lapses.

For the governorship election in Anambra state on Saturday, February 6^th 2010, the Commission, learning from past experiences, ensured that all non-sensitive materials for the election were in Anambra state two weeks before the election day while the sensitive materials arrived the state at least three days to the election day. Indeed, the agents of the political parties as well as various accredited observers of the process were at the Akanu Ibiam Airport in Enugu on Wednesday, February 3, 2010 to welcome and accompany the sensitive materials (ballot papers and result sheets) to Anambra state. The Commission had to make that arrangement possible in its bid to ensure transparency of the process.

Even for all this effort, the Commission noted some hiccups in the distribution of election materials on the Election Day. The delay led to late commencement of voting in various locations. Once more, we commend the electorate in Anambra state for showing patience and maturity in the circumstance. That is the way to progress. The Commission assures them that such situation will be addressed to avoid its recurrence in the future.

Then there was the issue of mix up and lapses in matching some voters’ cards with names in the Voters Register. The issue of voters register turned out to be the biggest challenge of the otherwise smooth election in Anambra state. The Commission regrets the inconveniences caused to various voters. It is unfortunate that the root of the problem with the voters register in Anambra state was located to the persistent belief by some politicians that they can only gain advantage over others by undermining the system.

The very incident of some unconscionable people conniving with some staff of the Commission to undermine the Voters Register by seeking to make false entries, and the failure of people to take advantage of the display of the register to properly identify their names and locations resulted in the mix ups and errors which affected some voters. While the Commission terminated the appointment of the members of its staff found guilty of the misdeed, the politicians who masterminded the acts remain unknown and sadly free. The result of the incident was the inconvenience which many innocent voters suffered.Again, the Commission promises to work assiduously to guide against such incident in future elections.

Prior to the governorship election, the Commission had also run an SMS project that offered registered voters in Anambra State an opportunity of finding out their registration status by sending a simple SMS inquiry to a dedicated number. Obviously, not many people took advantage of that window too.

Based on the experience during the governorship election in Anambra State, the Commission will from April to June, 2010 initiate a programme of display and review of voters register, to revalidate voters’ register at ward level throughout the country. The Commission is determined to give the people of Nigeria a good electoral system.

Once more, we congratulate the various stakeholders and people of Anambra State for the success of the governorship election on Saturday, February 6, 2010.From all indications, we can get it right if the will and the sincerity of purpose is there.

God bless Nigeria.