By Okechukwu Onuegbu
The Anambra State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Dr Queen Elizabeth Agwu, Friday, said the commission has never witnessed or recorded incidents of vote buying and selling since she took over as REC.
Agwu, who stated this while responding to questions during stakeholders meeting held at their headquarters in Awka, explained the commission's willingness to prosecute voter buyers and sellers in line with electoral act.
She, therefore, charged political party leaders, civil society organisations and observers to wake up on their duties and report incidents of vote trading with evidence.
On the 2027 general election, Agwu revealed that the commission has made various improvements in technology and currently procuring all the necessary materials, as well as recruiting ad-hoc staff to be trained and equipped for a seamless exercise.
She further averred that collection of permanent voters cards (PVC) were still ongoing across registration areas, while voters registers for those who enrolled from January to July, 2026 are currently on display for voters to confirm their data before they would be printed.
"All the Local Government Chairmen, party leaders and others should help us inform their members who registered for new PVC or replacements to go and check their data as been displayed. They should confirm if the data supplied are correct as printed and displayed so that we will make necessary corrections before printing the PVCs," she further disclosed.
Agwu further assured that the commission was working towards transferring collation centres from local government headquarters or government facilities to neutral environments just as they were making improvements in technologies to be deployed during the 2027 elections.
She further warned candidates and political parties participating in the national and state assembly polls in the State to desist from campaign of calumny or face appropriate sanctions.
"We won't permit you to wash your dirty lining in the public in this campaign period. The voters are not interested on your relationship or family stories. We want you to tell them who you are, your antecedents and manifestos. The masses are there to listen to you and make informed decisions from there not your personal family issues," she stated.