AWKA — The Young Progressives Party (YPP) has announced a boycott of the ongoing Anambra State local government elections, citing alleged violence, irregularities and intimidation of its agents and supporters during the exercise.
The party’s decision centres on Anambra East Local Government Area, where it was the only opposition party to field candidates for the council election. YPP candidates were contesting the chairmanship and all 15 councillorship positions across the local government.
Unlike Anambra East, the other 20 local government areas reportedly had no opposition candidates on the ballot. Candidates of the ruling All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) were therefore unopposed in those areas, leaving Anambra East as the only local government where the YPP was challenging APGA candidates.
The YPP announced its withdrawal from the exercise on Saturday at the Anambra East Local Government Secretariat in Otuocha. Charles Ifediora, the party’s Local Government Collation Agent for the area, said the decision followed what he described as unacceptable conditions surrounding the election.
Ifediora alleged that the state government and APGA had worked together to create an atmosphere capable of preventing the opposition from effectively participating in the election.
He said tensions increased after YPP supporters and electoral agents arrived at their designated locations in preparation for the voting process.
According to him, the distribution of electoral materials was about to begin when alleged gunshots were heard around the local government secretariat, creating fear among party agents and supporters.
“We are boycotting the election over widespread irregularities and violence against our party agents, members and voters,” Ifediora said.
He alleged that YPP agents were prevented from performing their electoral duties and claimed that the reported shooting disrupted the party’s participation in the process.
The party official said the incident was particularly significant because YPP had candidates across all 15 wards of Anambra East, covering 241 polling units.
Ifediora further alleged that security personnel from the Agunechemba and Udo-Ga-Achi vigilante outfits had been deployed in the area in a manner that, according to him, hindered the opposition party’s ability to participate fully in the election.
He described the situation as unacceptable and alleged that a female YPP member was injured during the incident and taken to hospital for treatment.
“There were several gunshots and one of our party members, a lady, was shot and taken to the hospital,” he alleged.
The shooting allegation was also supported by an eyewitness identified as Uche Akaniro, who said there had been shooting around the secretariat in the early hours of Saturday.
Akaniro, however, said the situation had calmed before voters arrived at the location, explaining that police officers had cordoned off the area.
“Yes, there were shootings near the LGA Secretariat in the early hours of today, but before we arrived at the Secretariat to vote, police had cordoned off the place and restored calm,” he said.
According to the eyewitness, some people were injured while attempting to escape after the reported shooting, although he said there were no major casualties.
The incident, he added, caused panic and temporarily disrupted electoral activity in the area, with some voters subsequently staying away from the process.
The YPP’s allegations were rejected by APGA, the ruling party in the state. Its Publicity Secretary, Mazi Ejimofor Opara, dismissed the claims as baseless.
Opara suggested that the YPP’s decision was driven by its electoral prospects rather than genuine security concerns, arguing that the opposition party knew it had little chance of winning the contest.
“That is a figment of their imagination. They knew they stood no chance and a bad workman will always quarrel with his tools,” Opara said.
The police also rejected the allegation of gunfire at the local government secretariat, offering a substantially different account of events in Anambra East.
The spokesperson for the Anambra State Police Command, SP Tochukwu Ikenga, said there had been no shooting in the area and maintained that the election was conducted peacefully.
Ikenga said the Commissioner of Police, CP Nnanna Ama, personally led a security monitoring patrol to Anambra East and other parts of the state during the election.
“There was no gun shot in the area,” Ikenga said, adding that the police patrol team visited the location to assess the security situation and monitor the deployment and conduct of security personnel.
He said the operation was also intended to ensure that the electoral exercise proceeded in a safe, peaceful and orderly manner across the state.
The police command maintained that the security arrangements were focused on preventing disruptions and preserving public order throughout the election.
The Commissioner of Police, according to Ikenga, reiterated the command’s commitment to maintaining law and order during the electoral process.
Ama also urged residents to remain peaceful, law-abiding and security-conscious while the election continued.
The conflicting accounts have placed the reported incident at the centre of the Anambra council election, with the YPP alleging that violence prevented its candidates and agents from participating effectively, while APGA and the police rejected the allegations.
The political circumstances in Anambra East are also unusual compared with the other local government areas participating in the election. The YPP had entered candidates for both the chairmanship and councillorship contests in Anambra East, making it the only local government where voters were presented with an opposition challenge.
The party’s boycott therefore removes its participation from the only LGA where it had mounted a direct electoral challenge to APGA.
The YPP said its decision was based on concerns over the treatment of its agents and supporters rather than a voluntary withdrawal from the political contest.
Meanwhile, the police maintained that security personnel had been deployed to monitor the exercise and prevent incidents capable of disrupting voting.
With the accounts of the alleged shooting directly disputed, the circumstances surrounding the reported incident remain contested between the political party, an eyewitness, APGA and the police command.
The YPP has characterised the development as evidence of violence and electoral irregularities, while APGA described the allegations as politically motivated and the police said there was no gunshot in the area.
The disagreement has consequently shifted attention from the voting process itself to the security conditions under which the election was conducted in Anambra East.
The YPP’s position is that its agents and supporters could not safely participate, while the authorities overseeing security have insisted that the electoral process remained peaceful.
The development underscores the tension surrounding the only competitive local government contest in the state, as the YPP challenges the conduct of the election and APGA and the police defend the process.
YPP Boycotts Anambra Council Poll, Alleges Violence and Electoral Irregularities
