THE Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Anambra State has raised alarm over dearth of ad-hoc staff, ahead of next month’s general elections.

Nkwachukwu Orji, the Anambra State resident electoral commissioner, made the observation during a meeting of the commission with traditional rulers in the state.

He explained that they had been experiencing difficulty in convincing the ad-hoc staff, who he noted would be partly drawn from the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, members and undergraduates.

The INEC commissioner, however, allayed fears of insecurity in the state, stressing there was no need to panic over security challenges in the state.

He added that there was no incident of casualties during the 2017 governorship election in the state, saying that next month’s elections would not be an exception.

“We’ve written to tertiary institutions in the state to make use of their students for the election, but it has not been easy convincing some of them for fear of outbreak of violence.

“We believe that the same peaceful atmosphere we enjoyed throughout the last election until now will continue to exit in the state,’’ he said.

Orji also re-assured that all necessary logistics were being worked out in preparation for the exercise, including replacement of old electricity generating sets with brand new ones as well as training of manpower.

While commending the monarchs for turning out in their numbers to the meeting, he appealed to them to assist the commission in ensuring their subjects collects their voters’ cards as soon as possible.

He urged political parties in the state to convince their members to take advantage of the six-day extension for the collection of their Permanent Voters Cards, PVCs.

Earlier, Igwe Alfred Achebe, the Obi of Onitsha and Chairman, Anambra Traditional Rulers Council, commended the commission for its commitment toward ensuring free and fair elections in the state.

– Jan. 18, 2018 @ 17:55 GMT |