APC Deplores 22-hour Curfew for Anambra Poll

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has voiced its displeasure over the 22-hour no movement order given by the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) for Saturday's gubernatorial election in Anambra State.
The order commences from 12pm on Friday, November 15th-10pm Saturday, November 16th.
Responding to the no movement order from the electoral body, the Interim National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Alhaji Lai Mohammed condemned the order from INEC wondering why such an extended curfew should be imposed because of an isolated election.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, the APC said even during general elections, people are allowed to move around freely from 4 pm on election day. He wondered why a state election would take longer time in restricting the movement of the electorate over the general elections.
''Election is not war, but a celebration of democracy. Declaring a 22-hour curfew for an election in only one state raises serious questions: What is INEC hiding? Is the curfew meant to give riggers enough time to write and collate their cooked-up results? Are elections and free movement of people incompatible? Why does INEC need
a 22-hour curfew to conduct a 'peaceful and successful' election in one state? Where in the world is a 22-hour curfew imposed during an election?
''In any case, Anambra does not have the kind of terrain or riverine communities that will justify waiting for hours for election results to be taken from polling units to the collation centre, hence there is no reason to turn Anambra into a ghost state just to hold a governorship election.
''We therefore call on INEC to reconsider this overstretched curfew if it has no underlying motive for declaring it in the first instance.”
Alhaji Mohammed further revealed that information at the disposal of the APC reveals that some decent INEC officials have rejected being part of the Anambra election because they do not want to be tainted by the shenanigans of some of their colleagues who are colluding with do-or-die politicians for 'thirty pieces of silver','' it said.
APC said that the creation of 1,973 extra polling units by INEC, out of the original 4608 would make voting faster as it will take voters less time to complete the accreditation and voting process.
Meanwhile, the party charged security agents against harassing and intimidating voters on Saturday, as they did during the infamous Delta Central Senatorial District bye-election last month.
''We have it on good authority that troops, police and State Security Service (SSS) personnel are being mobilized to Anambra from Abuja and neighbouring states ostensibly to provide security during the election. But we know that this is a ploy to actually scare voters away from the polling units and provide cover for ballot box hijackers and those adept at vote tampering.
''But we will like to remind our security agents that they are first and foremost Nigerians, hence they should always work in the larger interest of the country. They should not turn themselves to the armed wing of the PDP or APGA. They should allow voters to freely and peacefully cast their votes without harassment or intimidation on Saturday,'' it said.