The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it is still awaiting a request from the Senate for the conduct of by-election in Anambra South Senatorial District to replace Senator Ifeanyi Ubah.

Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Anambra State, Dr Elizabeth Agu, said this at a stakeholders’ dialogue organised by the International Press Centre (IPC) in Awka yesterday.

The theme of the dialogue was “Rebuilding Trust in the Electoral Process and Election”. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Sen. Ifeanyi Ubah, who was representing Anambra South Senatorial District died in July, 2024.

Agu said INEC had made preparations for the election and was ready to conduct it anytime it received a request from the Senate to fill the vacant seat.

She called on Anambra public, especially politicians, to play by the rules as the state prepared for Nov. 8 governorship election while assuring that the electoral body would ensure that peoples votes counted.

“INEC is ready for the Anambra South Senatorial District by-election but the Senate has to write us to request for the replacement of the vacant seat before we can conduct the election,” she said.

In his keynote lecture, Dr Nkwachukwu Orji, a lecturer at the University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN), said that public trust was crucial to participatory and successful election Nkwachukwu, a former REC in the state, said that voter apathy was an indication that there were things that were wrong in the electoral process including high trust deficit.

The don said though INEC had the constitutional rights to supervise the electoral process, it had allowed other members of the society to be part of the process with the aim of boosting public trust. He said trust issues in elections could be as a result of competence or integrity.