ABSIEC distributes materials for today’s council polls

The Abia State Independent Electoral Commission (ABSIEC) has commenced the distribution of non-sensitive materials to the 17 council areas in the state for today’s polls.

The Secretary of the commission, Mr. Tony Mgbarine, blamed the delay on difficulties encountered in securing vehicles for the logistics.

Mgbarine, who spoke in Umuahia yesterday, disclosed that the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) and some public institutions had released some vehicles to conveying materials and officials for the exercise.

“The non-sensitive materials have been distributed to every local government and any moment from now, the electoral officers would begin to evacuate them,” he said.

The commission’s secretary said that the sensitive materials would be delivered to the councils in the early hours of today.

Reacting to the sealing of the commission’s premises by its landlord, Mgbarine said that the action was meant to embarrass the commission at a critical period it was organising an election.

According to him, “We did not say that we do not owe them. We owed them and we have reached a truce with them on how to pay off the outstanding rent arrears,” Mgbarine said.

The family of the late Chief Nna Ude Emegha, the commission’s landlords, locked up the commission’s premises yesterday, demanding the payment of the arrears of their rent.

An official of the commission, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that the family had earlier served the commission a court process, urging it to pay the arrears or vacate the property.

The property is located behind the Union Bank Road, Umuahia.

A member of the family, Mr. Nna Emegha, told newsmen that the outstanding rent amounted to N8 million. He said that the commission paid N3.5 million, following Governor Okezie Ikpeazu’s directive to the commission to pay the entire rent.

He explained that their decision to seal the place was to draw the attention of the governor to the flouting of his directive by the commission.