We Are Yet To Recruit Personnel For Anambra Election – INEC

By Ayodele Oni

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has clarified that it has not recruited personnel for next month Governorship election in Anambra state.

The Resident Electoral Commissioner in the state, Dr Nwachukwu Orji, while reacting to media report that adhoc staff for the election were rejecting the offer, explained that the Commission was still in the process of training for the needed personnel.

According to the INEC Commissioner who spoke in Awka, the Commission has adequate manpower for the conduct of Nov. 6 Governorship election in Anambra state.

“INEC is still in the process of recruiting the adhoc workers, in fact we just finished the last training before this false report.

“As the Head of the Commission in Anambra, I am telling you authoritatively that we have more than enough manpower for the conduct of the forthcoming governorship election in Anambra.

The REC explained that none of the adhoc workers being recruited has been given engagement letter.

“If we have not issued letters to them, how then can any of them resign?”

Dr Orji said that a lot of people in the country were looking for work to do so as to improve their lives, adding that it was bad to publish stories capable of frightening the poor masses.

“Taking INEC jobs during elections has been one means for people who do not have permanent jobs to earn little money. Publishing negative report that will scare them is so bad.”

The Anambra election is threatened over violence, and especially, the threat by the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra, IPOB, to lock down the South-east beginning from November 5 to November 10 if its leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is not released from the custody of the Federal Government on, or before November 4, 2021.

Kanu is being prosecuted at a Federal High Court, Abuja, for issues including, alleged, terrorism and treasonable felony. His case, which came up on October 21, was adjourned to November 10.

Not a few people believe that the IPOB threat of a lock down is targeted at the Anambra November 6 election, seeing that it is not possible to release Kanu on or before November 4, and even then, not without a Court order.