Less than two weeks to the November 6 governorship election in Anambra State, some ad hoc staff of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) have begun to stay away from work.
Reports say the bus drivers usually engaged in dispatching electoral materials to different centres have equally declined to do the job for reasons not unconnected with fear of threat by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
Majority of the nearly 10, 000 ad hoc workers already recruited reportedly declared that they are no longer interested in the job, for fear of their lives.
Only a few days ago, the Media and Publicity Secretary of IPOB, Emma Powerful, issued a statement warning that if their leader Nnamdi Kanu is not released on November 4, it would declare another sit-at-home in Igbo land, between November 5 and 10.
Nonetheless, both President Muhammadu Buhari and Governor Willie Obiano have declared that nothing would stop the conduct of Anambra State governorship election.
Also, the National Security Adviser (NSA), Gen. Babagana Monguno (rtd), said on Monday that the conduct of the election is a legitimate process, declaring that the security agencies would not allow any group, under any guise, to undermine the process in Anambra State.
Yet INEC has lamented the challenges it is facing ahead of the election.
A source at INEC said: “If nothing decisive is done and urgently, the election we’ve been preparing for, for so long a time may not hold; even if it holds, who is prepared to risk his or her life to come out and vote?”