Election
Election: INEC ad-hoc staff absent, volunteers step in
When the INEC ad-hoc staff failed to report for election duty, some voters in Ozubulu, Ekwusigo Local Government Area, Anambra, volunteered as ad-hoc officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
On Saturday, volunteers took the place of ad hoc staff to ensure that voting took place at Uruokwe Central School’s polling units 006, 007, and 008 in Ozubulu, Ekwusigo LGA.
According to reports, some corps members who had previously been trained and deployed for election duties at polling units did not show up on Saturday.
Because only the presiding officers who were not corps members reported to duty, some voters volunteered to serve as ad hoc officials.
The difficulty posed a challenge as the volunteers were untrained and had difficulties handling the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and following the laid down procedure for the exercise.
It was the same situation at Polling Units 018 and 019, in Umuanyiegbu Hall, Ward 004, Ozubulu, Ekwusigo LGA.
The presiding officers refused to talk with journalists and efforts to get the Resident Electoral Commissioner, INEC, Dr. Elizabeth Agwu, to react to the development proved abortive.
Also in Enugu, some volunteers especially youth were seen assisting some ad-hoc staff in setting up the polling booths and maintaining orderliness in some areas of the state.
At the Federal Government College, Enugu, one of the volunteers simply known as Nonso, said that he decided to assist to ensure the smooth conduct of the election.
”I decided to assist to control the overwhelming crowd. I have never seen this kind of turnout since general elections were held in this country.
”So, my friends and I volunteered to help since there is very few security personnel in the polling unit,” he said.
