The Civil Society Organizations have attributed the inefficiency of the ad-hoc staff deployed by the Independent National electoral commission (INEC) for the just concluded governorship election in Anambra state to poor welfare conditions.
The group said the non availability of accommodation and provision of stipends for the officials affected their early deployment and efficiency in execution of their assigned task.
Addressing newsmen in Awka, the Convener, Situation Room, Clement Nwankwo, said the ugly development which resulted to protests by some of the adhoc staff, including the youth corps members, was one of the disappointing aspect of the election
Nwankwo also faulted INEC for not displaying openly information of the polling unit name and numbers amongst others as recommended by the Situation Room.
"This slowed the accreditation process and hampered the ability of voters to locate their polling units on time especially at locations with multiple polling units," he said.
Other issues raised by the situation room was the positioning of the voting cubicles in various polling units across the state, saying the proximity of the cubicles to the voters compromised the secrecy of voting.
"There were indications of logistics challenges, including inadequacy of the transportation arrangements made to convey both materials and personnel to the polling units and the absence of police personnel," he said.
According to the group, the security concerns as well as fears of massive violence ahead of the election contributed majorly to the voter apathy and low turnout witnessed during the exercise.
"The inadequate and inefficient deployment of police personnel created its own challenges, with INEC unable to deploy its personnel and election materials in time for polling to commence at the stipulated time of 8:00 am," it added.
