Obiano meets Buhari, solicits free, fair election in Anambra State

• Akeredolu wants deep seaport in Ondo
• INEC promises e-transmission of votes in 2019

Anambra State Governor Willie Obiano has urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to ensure a hitch-free and fair election in the state.

He spoke with State House correspondents yesterday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, after he held a closed-door meeting with President President Muhammadu Buhari.

He said: “Anambra remains the safest state in Nigeria today; we don’t have cases of kidnapping, armed robbery or similar crimes. We have been firmly in control of that state and will continue to do so throughout my tenure as governor.

“I am very confident that I will win the forthcoming election with a landslide. All we want is for the umpire to be unbiased. A free and fair election is what we want and we will get the result.”

Also, Ondo State Governor Rotimi Akeredolu has expressed the need for the Federal Government to take advantage of the natural resources in the state.

Akeredolu, who also spoke with newsmen after another closed-door meeting with the President, said: “We are asking that the country takes advantage of the natural resources in Ondo State and we have a seaport that is very germane to our export activities in particular, our mineral deposits which we have in large number and then we need to have a deep sea manning port and Ondo State is well suited for it.

“So, we impressed this on the President on what we believe will be a lasting legacy if we are able to accomplish it in his own time.”

Meanwhile, the Minister of Mines and Steel, Kayode Fayemi, who was also at the Presidential Villa, said that the deep seaport was for the future of the country.

He said the government was emphasising on solid minerals development as a vehicle for diversification, an agenda propagated by the present administration.

In another development, the INEC says it has concluded strategic working plans for the conduct of the 2019 general elections and is now working assiduously on the election project plan to enable it arrive at a definite budget figure that will enable it conduct fraud-free elections.

Chairman of the commission, Prof. Mahmud Yakubu, who spoke yesterday in Abuja during a quarterly media consultative forum, also warned politicians thinking of relying on the commission for victory at the polls to rescind their thoughts, saying the era of impunity was over.

He said the electronic transmission of votes would be carried out during the 2019 general elections hence the electoral umpire’s decision to test-run it in next year’s governorship elections in Ekiti and Osun states, which is aimed at improving on the standard of the conduct of elections in the country in line with global practice.