The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has advised political parties featuring in the Anambra governorship election to carry out responsible campaigns.
The INEC National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye, gave the advice when he spoke in an interview in Abuja on Monday.
Okoye urged political parties to put their houses in order in consonance with safety regulations as well as consider the security situation in the country.
He advised parties to seek clarification from the Commission on matters of national security.
Okoye said the commission was working hard to deliver on its mandate of ensuring credible Anambra governorship election.
He urged all stakeholders to cooperate with INEC, saying the conduct and delivery of a good election was a multi stakeholders’ venture.
“The Commission is working assiduously to get its facilities and processes ready for the election.
“The Commission has completed the first phase of the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) in Anambra, wherein, it devolved to the 326 Registration Areas as well as the 21 local government offices and the state office.
“The Commission is finalising arrangements to deploy its Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) to Anambra and various enlightenment and voter education programmes are ongoing in the state.
“The Commission is also moving fast to rebuild its Anambra collation center, storage facilities and office buildings and facilities burnt or damaged by arsonists,’’ Okoye added.
He recalled that INEC had informed Nigerians that prior to the attack on its facilities, it had delivered over 50 per cent of the non-sensitive materials required for the conduct of the election to the Anambra office.
He noted that all the materials already delivered, including 326 generating sets retrieved from all the Registration Areas and seven utility vehicles meant for electoral operations, were destroyed by the attackers.
“We are encouraged that contractors are now working day and night to get the facilities ready for the election.
“The procurement of materials for elections and other electoral purposes goes through the public procurement process.
“Some of these materials are stored in the zonal stores of the Commission as some of them like ballot boxes and cubicles are reusable,’’ he said.
