“Hide Election Materials and Go to Jail,” INEC Warns Staff Ahead of Anambra Governorship Poll

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has issued a stern warning to its staff and ad-hoc personnel in Anambra State ahead of the November 8 governorship election. The commission declared that any staff found hiding election materials on election day will face jail time.

Anambra State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Dr. Queen Elizabeth Agwu, made this known while addressing preparations for the upcoming polls. She said INEC is fully committed to ensuring a transparent and efficient election in every ward across the state and will not tolerate past incidents where electoral officials were seen without election materials.

Dr. Agwu also announced that the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise in Anambra will commence on July 8 and run through July 17. However, the exercise will not take place on Mondays. She explained that the decision was made to give residents adequate time to recover from weekend activities and prepare for the week ahead. Mondays in the Southeast are typically observed as sit-at-home days, a situation that has persisted for years following directives from pro-Biafra agitators and which has often been marred by violence and intimidation.

The REC clarified that the new CVR data will not be used for the Anambra South senatorial bye-election and the Onitsha North 1 constituency election scheduled for August 16. Instead, it will be applied to the governorship election on November 8. A second phase of the CVR, to be held from August 17 to 26, will feed into preparations for the 2027 presidential election.

Dr. Agwu assured that all necessary materials for both the bye-election and the governorship poll are ready, including the Bimodal Voter Accreditation Systems (BVAS), which she said have been charged, tested, and confirmed to be functioning properly. She also revealed that INEC has received 326 scanners from its national headquarters, which will be deployed alongside the configured BVAS devices.

Urging residents to participate in the voter registration, Agwu stressed that civic engagement is essential to the success of the elections. “We are ready for the elections; everything has been supplied to us. I’m only begging the residents of the state to come forward for the CVR because you’re doing a disservice to yourself, the state, and the nation if you do not come out and vote on election day,” she said.