Anambra State Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC); has disclosed that it withheld the allowances of over 630 adhoc staff of the November 6, 2021 governorship election over alleged missing materials.
Speaking at a media briefing yesterday, in Awka, the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Dr. Nkwachukwu Orji, said INEC took the decision following failure of the officers to return some of the devices and materials given to them for the exercise.
Giving a breakdown of the missing materials, Orji said they comprised mostly components of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), like scanners, power packs, cables and other accessories.
He decried the act and urged members of the public, especially the adhoc staff to see the commission’s property as national asset and treat them with care and sense of responsibility.
Orji said INEC carefully documented the accessories and those to whom they were allocated adding: “We have been in touch with them; some of who have started returning the items, while we hope that others will follow suit.
“We haven’t established any time line for the entire return, because we’re still giving them grace period, but the management will soon take a decision on them.”
He also announced the resumption of the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise in the state from January 25, 2022 after its suspension on September 15, 2021.
“The resumption of the exercise will offer eligible, but unregistered voters the opportunity to get registered and enable registered voters to transfer and update their registration,” he added.
