NO fewer than 20 persons, who indulged in various forms of electoral offences, have been arrested by security agencies in Imo State, the state’s Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Prof Selina Oko, has disclosed.

Briefing journalists on Thursday in Owerri on recent developments in the ongoing elections in the state, Oko said the arrested persons’ offences ranged from ballot snatching and related cases to other forms of violence, adding that they would soon be arraigned.

She said: “Over 20 have been arrested in the state and would soon appear in court.”

The REC explained that most ad-hoc workers deployed to polling centres and units could not show up, probably because they were scared of recent violence in some parts of the country, adding that their absence was a setback to the commission.

She, however, disclosed that despite the disappointment, some persons were trained and had replaced those who did not show up.

Oko maintained that the commission was ready to conduct today’s polls in the state, having distributed elections materials to the various units.

She said her office was working hard to ensure that there were no incidents of late arrival of materials, blaming such delays in previous elections on human factor on the side of ad-hoc workers.

The INEC chief disclosed that all the corps members who participated in the registration of voters have been paid, adding that INEC remitted the funds directly to NYSC headquarters, whose officials were handling payment.

Posted by admin on Apr 16 2011. Filed under Elections 2011, Imo, State News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry