The Abia State Independent Electoral Commission (ABSIEC), has affected a minor change in the timetable for the conduct of elections into chairmanship and councillorship positions in the state, as it has picked Friday, December 18, 2020 as a new date for the polls.
The Commission has also pegged the fees for nomination forms for chairmanship and councillorship seats at five hundred thousand naira(500,000) and one hundred thousand naira (100,000) respectively.
The Chairman of ABSIEC, Prof Mkpa Agu Mkpa, announced this on Tuesday, 6 October, during a meeting he held with leaders of various political parties at ABSIEC headquarters, Umuahia.
Prof Mkpa charged the parties and interested aspirants to take note of the latest information as the meeting was held to keep them abreast with the plans of ABSIEC towards a hitch-free election.
Prof Mkpa also used the occasion to reiterate the determination of ABSIEC under his watch to conduct credible, free and fair elections, while urging interested aspirants and their supporters to play according to the rules of the game.
He assured that modalities were being put in place to make the December 2020 election a complete success, without violence.
It was understood that the nomination forms as announced by the electoral umpire is non-refundable and this has put aspirants from opposition political parties in a fix, as most of them are said to be afraid of paying the fees, reasoning that the election may be swept by candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the ruling party in the State.
Meanwhile, the State headquarters of the Peoples Democratic Party at No 8 Finbar’s road, Umuahia has continued to bubble on daily basis as interested aspirants arrive to pick their expression of interest forms, in readiness for the elections.
