Ahead of the November 6 election in Anambra, a survey conducted by CLEEN Foundation has revealed that 58 per cent of eligible voters in the state believe the election will be peaceful.

“As regards expectation of peaceful outcome of the election, survey result of the general public…reveals that more respondents (43%) believe that the election will be peaceful, 32% say they are not sure, 15% believe it will be very peaceful, 9% violent and 2% very violent,” said CLEEN’s Security Threat Assessment report seen by Peoples Gazette.

The findings have been made amid worsening insecurity in the South-East.

The report noted that pressing security concerns in the state such as the undue influence of money politics, political thuggery, unprofessional conduct of security agents and youth exclusion as factors that might contribute to violent electoral activities.

The majority of the survey respondents agreed that party thugs and cultists might undermine the peaceful conduct of electoral activities in Anambra. There’s also the popular opinion that the influence of money in politics and misconduct by security personnel poses a threat to the election exercises in the state.  

The survey was carried out across the 21 local government areas and received responses from 1,514 eligible voters aged 18 years and above. The respondents were divided into two categories: the general public, 1,067 persons, and the expert public, 447 persons.

CLEEN also considered gender dynamics in the distribution of respondents across the state. The report noted that the general public category was made up of 51 per cent male responses and 49 per cent female responses.

Under the expert public category, however, the gender distribution of respondents varied, with 63 per cent male responses and 37 per cent female responses.