The winner of the February 6, 2010 governorship election in Anambra State, Mr. Peter Obi, on Sunday admitted that the election that guaranteed his second term in office had its own defects.

Obi, who addressed a world press conference after he was declared the winner of the keenly contested election, also praised his opponents for their patriotism and gallantry.

He said, “This election was unique in several respects. One, it was the only one that was conducted throughout Nigeria on Saturday.

“Two, the entire world literally monitored it, either directly or indirectly. Thirdly, although the age-old inadequacies of the Independent National Electoral Commission in terms of poor preparation, late arrival of electoral materials, etc, manifested, they were minimal.

“However, in spite of the foregoing, vote-counting, collation and announcement of results were relatively transparent. I wish to commend INEC, election observers and monitors in this connection.

“For this singular reason also, I accept the results of the election as declared by INEC, namely, that I won this election.”

Thanking the people of the state for re-electing him, Obi promised to do more for them in his second term.

“As for my brothers and sisters who contested the election with me, I commend them for their patriotism and desire to serve our people. You have no doubt put up a gallant fight.”

Meanwhile, the Election Monitoring and Observation Board, a body set up by the INEC Chairman, Prof. Maurice Iwu, to monitor the election has said added that it observed that a lot of people could not locate their names in the voter register.

The chairman, Mr. Ikeazor Akaraiwe, however, told newsmen that INEC took a laudable step by saying that those whose names were not found in the register but were in possession of the valid permanent voter cards should be allowed to vote, while their names would be compiled on a separate list.

He said it took the efforts of the board to go round the units and ensured that the instructions from the leadership of INEC were carried out.

The board therefore said there was need for a holistic review of the voter register, and putting in place of measures to prevent the politicians from hijacking the process, saying that Resident Electoral Commissioners should be given adequate support and authority to carry out their functions effectively.

He said, “There is the need for INEC to put in place its own transport infrastructure to eradicate problems posed by outside transportation. Again, INEC needs to have hotlines that should be manned by two or three persons to handle problems and communicate effectively with other officials, among others.”