Anambra election: I want to be elected governor but legitimately — Soludo

The governorship candidate for the All Progressives Grand Alliance, Prof Charles Soludo, has stated that although he wants to be governor of Anambra State, he wants it to be done legitimately.

Soludo made this statement while addressing newsmen as he lamented the malfunctioning of the Bimodal Voters Accreditation System machine during the governorship poll.

He said, “In my stronghold, the thing seems to have packed up literally as it were but again, as I said in the morning, I am a die-hard optimist and I want to believe that the system will deliver. If they are extending that till tomorrow, I am sure these people will be back here to vote; whenever they extend it to, these people will be back here because they want to vote and we want technology that enables all the eligible voters to vote. I want to be governor but I want to be elected legitimately with the votes of the people.”

Speaking on the faulty machines, the APGA governorship candidate said the development might be a factor for the Independent National Electoral Commission to extend the voting time.

He further stated that if INEC postponed the voting time, he believed that the electorate would still come out en masse to vote.

Read Also Anambra: I’m shocked by INEC’s technology breakdown ― Soludo

He said, “Even if you put electricity here, at the rate at which the machine is going, maybe one person per hour, will be able to vote. I am not sure we will even finish by tomorrow. It is quite concerning, quite frankly, and what is happening in my own polling booth here seems to represent largely the pool of the reports that I have got around the state. A few places, I understand, they said worked relatively well but in a vast majority of the places around the state, it just has not worked well. I understand that some people have now, over the last 30 minutes, in some few polling units randomly.

“I am in touch with them all although I have not left here since 11:30 am and I have to cast my vote but I will not jump the queue. I cannot jump the queue and be one of those privileged 20 that will be able to vote. No! These elderly people have been here since morning and they cannot get to vote. Several have left, I have seen hundreds of them walk away because they cannot sit here all day. So, I have just seen the release by the INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner talking about the extension; namely, that if we are here till 4 pm, you would still be allowed to cast your vote. That is fair enough, and there is also implicit in it, in my own understanding, that there is a possibility of extending the voting time till tomorrow, possibly. I want to believe that this is one of those places that the voting time must be extended.”

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