The Independent National Electoral Commission has refused to pay the allowances of 630 ad-hoc workers, who participated in the November 6, 2021 Anambra governorship election for failure to return the commission’s devices and other materials.

This was revealed by Resident Electoral Commissioner of Anambra, Dr Nwachukwu Orji, during a press briefing on Tuesday in Awka, the state capital.

Orji said the commission was displeased that some ad-hoc staff who were engaged for the governorship election had failed to return some of the devices and other materials assigned to them.

“The commission has taken the unfortunate decision to withhold the allowances of staff involved in the act, pending their return of the materials to the commission,” he said.

The INEC REC named some of the materials to include Bio-modal Voters Accreditation System machines, battery chargers, cables and other accessories.

He said though some of the people holding the materials had started returning them, the commission resolved to place an order that people, who worked from such affected areas would have their payments withheld.

The REC also announced that INEC in the state had lifted the ban on Continuous Voters Registration.

He said, “INEC suspended CVR in Anambra on September 15, 2021 because of the November 6 governorship election in the state, but with the election successfully completed, the commission has from today, Tuesday, January 25 lifted the ban.”

He said the exercise would take place in the 21 local government areas and the commission’s headquarters in Awka.

Orji urged those eligible to register to endeavour to take advantage of the period to enable them get the Permanent Voters Card, adding that those, who had already registered before September 15 should come for their cards.