About 200 women from the 21 local government areas in Anambra State on Sunday protested the conduct of Saturday's governorship election in the state.
They said the election was not credible and called for its cancellation and conduct of a fresh one.
The women, who carried leaves , expressed their disappointment with the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Attahiru Jega.
They rolled repeatedly on the road leading to the INEC office chanting , "Jega has failed us,' and 'He should resign or be removed."
A combined team of police officers and soldiers resisted their attempts to gain entry into the INEC premises.
Infuriated , the women, who gathered at Arroma Junction and marched through the Alex Ekwueme, rained abuses on the policemen and soldiers.
Spokesperson for the protesters, Mrs. Angela Akukalia, said many people were disenfranchised as their names were not found on the voter registers.
She said, "The election materials were not even available in most polling units across the state.
"In areas where they were available, they arrived so late and by then, most people had gone home.
"Even the rescheduled election in Idemili North was fixed on a Sunday when most people go to church and would not be around to vote.
"This was a scientific way to rig the election. Jega has failed us. He has shown he is not capable."
She added that the "election should be cancelled because it is beyond Idemili North'' where the rerun poll in 65 polling units held on Sunday.
Before the protest by the women, three candidates for the election closed ranks to kick against the conduct of the exercise that their All Progressives Grand Alliance counterpart, Chief Willie Obiano, was leading in 20 councils as of Sunday evening.
The candidates – Senator Chris Ngige of the All Progressive Congress, Tony Nwoye, Peoples Democratic Party; and Ifeanyi Ubah, Labour Party, at a joint press conference in Awka, called on INEC to stop further announcement of the results because of alleged widespread irregularities.
They claimed that the conduct of rerun election in some polling units in Idemili North Local Government Area was a waste of time.
"They can do any amount of voting they like. But subject to consultations with the leadership of our parties, no result should be announced. A word is enough for the wise," Ngige, Nwoye and Ubah said in a five-page statement.
They insisted that fraudulent practices and massive irregularities that greeted the election on Saturday had made it to fall substantially below the requirements of the Electoral Act.
They said the parties were deceived by the INEC Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, who told them on Wednesday that the voter register was perfect .
The candidates also alleged massive security lapse, which gave room for the intimidation of their supporters and agents.
They further alleged that there was a massive deployment of Anambra State government funds in all the polling units to buy votes.
Their statement added, "Some of the voters were paid as much as N10,000.
"Having noted these points and having noted the compromising stance of INEC officials, we have come to the inevitable conclusion that this commission (INEC) is determined to go back to its old ways."
- Rerun poll boycotted
They had before briefing journalists announced that they had boycotted the rerun election in in 65 wards in Idemili North on Sunday.
The election was cancelled in the wards because election materials could not be delivered there on Saturday, the day of the poll.
INEC deferred declaration of all the finals result until those of the rerun were collated.
As of 12 midnight, electoral officers were seen arriving at the INEC office in Awka.
One of them told The PUNCH that the final result might not be ready until 3 am.
Ngige and Nwoye had earlier on Sunday morning also complained about the conduct of the poll and called for its cancellation.
While the APC candidate had the backing of the national leadership of his party, Nwoye seemed to be acting alone as the PDP headquarters said it was satisfied with the conduct of the election.
- APGA praises election conduct
APGA however praised the conduct of the election and said INEC had fulfilled its promise to make it the best ever.
"We are satisfied with the way INEC has conducted this exercise so far. We are thoroughly satisfied with the conduct of the security agencies," the National Chairman of the party, Chief Victor Umeh, said.
Umeh accused those that have questioned the credibility of the election of not being agents of the truth.
He added that they were complaining because it had become clear to them that they would lose.
On the allegations that APGA rigged the process with INEC, Umeh said, "We will never rig election in this state. We believe in due process. We believe in the rule of law."
- Poll fell below standard–Situation room
But, the Nigeria Civil Society Election Situation Room, a coalition of 40 civil society organisations that monitored the election, said it fell short of standards.
In a statement on Sunday, the organisation noted that poor deployment of logistics, materials, and incompetence of many polling officials contributed to the problems that affected the poll.
The statement by the leader of the group, Mr. Tunji Lardner, added, "INEC's conduct of the governorship election in Anambra State poses serious concerns ahead of the 2015 general elections and the Situation Room calls on INEC to change its strategy with a view to improving on its preparations for the 2015 elections."
