Vote or risk state of emergency, Senator tells Anambra people

Senator Stella Oduah has urged the people of Anambra State to come out en masse to exercise their constitutional mandate in next Saturdays governorship election in the state.

Oduah who dropped out of the PDP governorship primary which produced Oseloka Obaze as the party's standard bearer, stressed that irrespective of political affiliation, interest of the state comes first.

According to the former aviation minister who currently chairs the Senate committee on cooperation and integration, failure to exercise their franchise could lead to the declaration of state of emergency.

This, she cautioned, may not augur well for people in the state, as there won't be any chief executive in the state to hold accountable for good governance.

Addressing journalists in Abuja, the PDP lawmaker charged political leaders in the state to call on their followers to come out and vote en masse at the November 18 exercise.

"Our constitution does not allow for half a minute space between the incumbent tenure being over and the next tenure.

"Therefore if we fail to come out and cast our vote to have a new governor, what will happen is that the federal government will provide an administrator and declare a state of emergency.

"It means that democracy will elude us, the administrator that would be governing us would not be who we voted for or who we desire; that is not what we want.

"Therefore we must not allow ourselves to be disenfranchised, we must make sure that we come out on November 18th and vote.

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"What Anambra needs now more than anything is peace, we need peace for progress, we need peace for security, we need peace to sustain the development that is coming and that has come. We do not need violence, we have had enough killings, thank God we have security in Anambra more than most states, we must make sure that is sustained.

"Most importantly our basic human right that is enshrined in the constitution and gives us the power to choose who governs us must not be denied us.

"We will be denying ourselves that if we fail to come out and vote and protect our vote. It is extremely important that we understand this.

"I am pleading that all leaders should come out and tell their followers to come out and vote come 18th of November.

"We have been enjoying a very peaceful and secured state, people are now home-bound, investments are coming, human capital is being developed. To sustain that and to ensure that we are not disenfranchised, we must not stay at home on the 18th, we must exercise our civic rights. Nobody should voluntarily disenfranchise himself or herself, it is an abnormality.

"This is not about party, it is about saving our state, it is about making sure that our youths, women and children have a peaceful and enabling environment where good governance and policies will thrive," she said.

Recall that last week, the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) threatened Anambra voters with death if they vote at the election. They also vowed to disrupt the poll.

But in a swift reaction, the Anambra State Police Command has asked residents of the state to go out en masse to exercise their franchise on the day of the election.

Police Public Relations Office, Nkeiruka Nwode, said the state police command had concluded arrangements for effective policing of the state during the election.