Anambra Election: State Of Emergency Will Be Declared If .. - Oduah

THE Federal Government will provide an administrator and declare a state of emergency in Anambra State if its people refuse to vote as advised by the Indigenous People of Biafra, a senator representing Anambra North Senatorial district, Stella Oduah has said.

The proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) had threatened Anambra voters with death if they vote at the election.

The PDP lawmaker while advising the people to ignore the death threat stated this on Sunday.

Explaining this to journalist in Abuja, she held that the Constitution did not allow for a vacuum in any state and as such if the current term lapses and a governor had not been elected, then an administrator would be appointed.

“Therefore if we fail to cast our votes, if we fail to come out to vote and have a new governor, what will happen is that the Federal Government will provide an administrator and declare a state of emergency.

“That is not what we want. It means that democracy will elude us, who is governing us would not be who we voted for or who we desired.

“This is not about which party I belong to. It is about saving our state, it is about making sure that our youths, our women, our children have a peaceful and enabling environment where good governance and policies will strive.

“Therefore we must make sure that we come out on the 18th and vote.

“What Anambra needs now more than anything is peace, we need peace for progress, we need peace for security, we need peace for the development that is coming and that has come.

“We do not need violence, we have had enough killings, thank God we have security in Anambra more than most states, we must ensure that is sustained.

“Most importantly our basic human right that is enshrined in the constitution that gives us the right to choose who governs us must not be denied us.

“We will be denying ourselves that if we fail to come out and vote and protect our votes.

“I am pleading that all leaders come out and tell their followers to ensure that they come out and vote come 18th of November.

“We must not stay at home on the 18th, we must exercise our civic rights,” she said.

When HEADLINE carried out some perusal about what the Nigerian Constitution says about boycotting election, it found out that discouraging or hindering people from exercising their franchise in an election as done by the Indigenous People Of Biafra, IPOB, has done is classified as treason and in another version the constitution termed it terrorism.