Deeply concerned about the upcoming 2023 election, Nollywood actor, Willams Uchemba has called out officials of the Independent Electoral Commission, INEC, over their attitudes towards Nigerians seeking to collect their voters’ cards.
He lamented that the electorates are being subjected to difficulties in their quest to collect their cards at the Electoral Commission centers across the country.
There have been videos of eligible voters crying out over how they are being treated by some staff of the Electoral Commission who go as far as collecting money before releasing the cards.
The Abia State-born actor via his Instagram account shared one of the videos of some Nigerians protesting not being able to pick up their Permanent Voters’ Cards, PVCs, from their respective zones.
Uchemba lamented that most registered voters are told by the officials that the PVCs are either “not ready or cannot be found” stating that, INEC cannot disenfranchise people and expect a free and fair election.
According to him, he “hopes INEC is ready for what is coming.”
He urged the electoral umpire to do the needful in order to resolve the matter.
![Rev. Fr. Anthony Odiong, a US-based Nigerian Louisiana Catholic priest, was arrested in Florida on Tuesday for possessing child pornography, according to law authorities. The suspect is reportedly accused of many other cases of sexual assault. The Waco, Texas, Police Department announced in a Facebook post on Tuesday that officers detained Father Anthony Odiong in Ave Maria, Florida, with assistance from the United States Marshals Service. Waco police announced in March that they had received "credible information" about a sexual assault allegedly committed by Odiong in Texas in 2012. “During the subsequent investigation, a case of possession of child pornography was uncovered,” the police said. The priest was apprehended in Florida by the Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force. The Waco Police Department said that he will be extradited to Texas. Odiong had previously served in the Archdiocese of New Orleans before being removed as priest in December of last year due to controversy over homilies in which he claimed, among other things, that the Catholic Church was being taken over by "the gays." At the time, the priest was also accused of abusive behaviour; a Louisiana lady claimed in U.S. bankruptcy court that Odiong had committed both financial and sexual abuse against her. Prior to joining the New Orleans Archdiocese, Odiong served in at least two Texas parishes. On Tuesday, Waco police stated that during their sexual assault investigation, "the presence of other survivors was revealed." “Multiple women have come forward to tell similar experiences as the sexual assault survivor who reported the initial allegation,” the police department said. “Survivors’ experiences ranged from sexual assault and indecent assault, more commonly recognised as groping, and financial abuse, with some survivors experiencing every element of Anthony Odiong’s manipulation.” The police said they “believe there may be more survivors, and we wish to speak with anyone who [has] had similar encounters” with the priest. The Archdiocese of New Orleans issued a brief news release on Tuesday noting Odiong's arrest in Florida. The archdiocese “encourages anyone with any information to contact law enforcement,” the release said.](https://chronicle.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ezgif-6-4730550ede-450x300.jpg "Odiong: US-based Nigerian Catholic priest convicted over sexual assault")
