Reasons why Anambra State Election will be the most expensive _INEC TELLS.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said the November 18 governorship election in Anambra State, may be one of the most expensive the Commission has ever conducted.

This comes as the electoral body announced that it has recruited over 23,000 electoral officials for the election in the state.

INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner in Anambra State, Nwachukwu Orji, stated this at the weekend in Abuja at a dialogue with the Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room – a coalition of over 70 civil society organisations in the country.

He pointed out that the total number of registered voters in the state has increased from 1.9 million in the 2015 general elections to 2.158 million.

“Our commitment is to ensure that voter experience in Anambra is improved.  If you consider the amount of money and other resources that we invest in getting election done, Anambra election is an expensive election. In fact, the Commission is now saying this might actually be one of the most expensive elections they have conducted,” Orji stated.

According to him, there are over 203,000 printed Permanent Voters Card, out of which 64,000 have been distributed.

On his part, the Commissioner of Police, Anambra State Command, Garba Umar, said the Command is intensifying efforts to sustain the existing calm for a peaceful, crime-free and credible exercise.

Represented by Deputy Commissioner of Police in the state, Mike Okoli, he said 21,084 policemen would be deployed for the election.

Umar also added that the Command would deploy 300 patrol vehicles, three helicopters, five gunboats and six Armoured Personnel Carriers (APC).

He said: “There are challenges bestowed on the civil society in order to make the Police function up to its constitutional expectations during elections. The success or failure of the Police during elections depends on the cooperation from the members of the public especially the civil society organisations.

“There is the challenge of inadequate logistics for the Police during the elections. These include but not limited to shortage of vehicles, lack of communication gadgets, inadequate accommodation and payment of allowances for the men on election duty”.

Earlier, the Executive Director, Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC), Clement Nwankwo, said the dialogue was organised to find out the readiness of the commission in the state as well as the police for the election.