INEC’s Resident Electoral Commissioner in Anambra, Nwachukwu Orji, has warned officials of the commission handling the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise against misconduct and extortion of prospective registrants.

Mr Orji gave the warning during a media briefing at the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) headquarters in the state capital, Awka, on Friday.

“We got unsubstantiated reports that some people who went for CVR registration were told to pay money and some others asked to sweep the centres before they were attended to by INEC officials.

“My office has tried to investigate these reports but no specific mention was made where and who committed these offences.

“To check this, INEC now has a dedicated whatsapp number: 07043528329, which people can send reports of misconduct or extortion by any of our officials handling the registration exercise,” he said.

Mr Orji said that the commission frowned at all forms of misconduct, noting that anyone caught would be dealt with.

He explained that name, location and other details of an erring official must be included to enable the commission track and punish such a person.

The commissioner announced that the commission was recording a surge in the number of citizens seeking to get registered for the CVR exercise in the state.

“This surge in the number of prospective registrants has put substantial pressure on the resources and capacity of the commission. It has also led to long queuing time and other inconveniences on the part of the prospective registrants,” he said.

Mr Orji said more registration centres had been created as well as reopened some local government area offices hitherto shut down due to insecurity.

“We wish to appeal to prospective registrants to exercise patience and understand the situation. Contrary to false reports on several platforms, the CVR exercise will continue to run until June 30, 2022,” he said.

(NAN)