By InfactNG
The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC on Friday made its decision to suspend the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise in all 54 additional centres created to facilitate the registration of voters in Imo State.
This decision was unconnected to the unfortunate incident in Imo State in which an INEC staff was killed by gunmen in Ihitte Uboma Local Government Area on Thursday.
This was made known in a statement signed by National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, INEC, Festus Okoye.
The Commission however stated that the exercise will now be confined to its State and Local Government Area offices except in Orsu, Njaba and Ihitte Uboma where it is suspended indefinitely.
The statement read in part: “This decision follows a further report from the Resident Electoral Commissioner, Prof. Francis C. Ezeonu, of threats to our staff involved in the exercise in Ehime Mbano Local Government Area. Earlier, the Commission had restricted the exercise to our offices in Oru East, Oru West, Orlu and Ohaji-Egbema Local Government Areas.
“Meanwhile, the Commission has now established contact with two of our staff missing after yesterday’s attack in Ihitte Uboma. They are safe and will soon be reunited with their families.
“The safety of staff remains a primary concern to the Commission. We will continue to ensure that no staff is put in harm’s way while working with the security agencies and community leaders to protect them and facilitate their work.”
