Many webmasters often look confused regarding the relationship between exact match anchor text internal links and the Google Penguin update. Penguin is said to penalize websites that are having too many exact match anchor text backlinks. But, does that count for internal links also?
The video below would help you to answer this question well.
The Crux
Same anchor text backlinks does not hurts a regular website like if you are using the links as per your required design template. If you make any sort of changes and move too far adding too many links in the footer, sidebar etc. then it may affect your site. Hence, it is always the best strategy to serve the user and make it easier for the user to navigate your site without thinking how the search engines might use it as a signal to rank your website. Your site is safe as long as its using acceptable site links in terms of quantity. Act naturally and you are safe!