D –DAY IN ANAMBRA: 23 CANDIDATES BATTLE TO SUCCEED OBI

THE long awaited 2013 governorship election in Anambra will take place today in 4,608 polling units in 326 political wards in the 21 local government areas of the state. Twenty three governorship candidates are vying to be elected to succeed Governor Peter Obi whose tenure would end on March 17, 2014.
Altogether, 1,784,536 registered voters are expected to vote in the election. Figures released by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, showed that 52 percent of the registered voters are between 18 and 35 years; 25 percent in the age bracket of 36-50 years, while those between the ages of 51-69 years constitute 18 percent. Voters above 70 years constitute five percent.
Also, female registered voters are 900,701, or about 50.5 percent, while their male counterpart account for 49.5 percent.
A coalition of over 400 civil society groups under the umbrella of the Transition Monitoring Group, TMG, has already deployed over 600 election observers to all the 21 local government areas in the state to monitor the election.
To ensure adequate security during the exercise, the Inspector General of Police, IGP, Mohammed Abubakar has appointed the Deputy Inspector General of Police, DIG, in charge of operations, Philemon Leha, a former commissioner of police in the state to take charge, with three other Commissioners of Police that would be posted to the three senatorial zones of the state, to assist him.
The three commis-sioners of police will also work with deputy commissioners and assistant commissioners of police, in addition to a large number of security operatives that would be assigned to all the polling units.
Abubakar warned during his interaction with INEC Chairman, Professor Attahiru Jega and candidates and chairmen of the various political parties in Awka on Wednesday that nobody would be allowed to use his police orderly or escort today, adding that any police personnel found flouting the order would be dismissed from the force.