The Independent National Electoral Commission INEC has commenced the distribution of sensitive materials across the country, ahead of te march 18 governorship and House of Assembly elections
It would be recalled that INEC had at its meeting with the Inter Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES) Tuesday in Abuja, declared its readiness for the elections
In Lagos State, INEC commenced the distribution of sensitive materials to be used for governorship and House of Assembly elections after the delivery from the Central Bank of Nigeria on Wednesday.
The exercise, which was led by the INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner for Lagos state, Mr Olusegun Agbaje, and the Commissioner of Police in Lagos State, CP Idowu Owohunwa, was monitored by various stakeholders.
INEC Electoral Officers from the 20 local government areas were on the ground to distribute the materials to their respective LGA offices in the state.
Speaking to newsmen, Agbaje, who noted that INEC was ready to conduct free, fair and credible elections on Saturday, called for the cooperation and support of stakeholders.
He noted that the sensitive materials are secured and intact for every stakeholder to see the transparency of the commission, adding that the onward distribution of the materials from the councils to the 245 wards of the state would begin on Thursday.
It was the same in Cross Rivers Sate, where the Resident Electoral Commissioner, Prof. Gabriel Yomere, received all the sensitive materials for Saturday’s governorship and House of Assembly elections.
The materials which were received from the Central Bank of Nigeria were inspected by party agents before distribution to the 18 Local Government Areas of the state.
Yomere said that though the Electoral Act does not require the REC to sign the result sheets, he would do so to end doubts about the forthcoming elections, adding that the commission has over 10 petitions written against it. .
“No provision has been made on this in the Electoral Act but whatever I do is with the fear of God.
“I and management have elected to sign the result sheet and while I will sign that of the governor, the administrative will sign that of the House of Assembly.”
The Chairman, Inter-Party Advisory Council and Chairman in the state, Comrade Anthony Bissong, in his remarks, welcomed the REC’s decision.
Also in Osun State, the distribution was held at the premises of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Osogbo Branch. The exercise, witnessed by security operatives and journalists, was supervised by the state INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner, Dr Mutiu Agboke.
Speaking before the commencement of the exercise, Agboke assured that the commission would scale up its level of arrangement, procedures and security due to the high stakes attached to the poll, even though governorship election would not hold in the state.
He said armed security operatives would be on duty at collation centres across the state, adding that security operatives would also deploy more men to violent-prone areas to ensure hitch-free poll.
He said, “We are here for our usual rituals. The rituals of bringing out sensitive materials that we have kept in the CBN for the past few weeks for the purpose of the coming State House of Assembly election.
“In Osun State, there is no gubernatorial election; but notwithstanding, people will be electing House of Assembly members and that is why we have brought out ballot papers and results sheet. They are going to be batched into Local Governments. If you look at them, they are in 30 places. They are already customised which makes it easier to be deployed to various Local Governments.
“Today is very special. All the stakeholders are on ground and this suggests that the election we are going into is as important as the previous ones we have conducted.
The stakes are high and the tension is everywhere. People are peddling various unfounded rumours and we told ourselves that we must step up our game and scale up the level of arrangement, procedures and security.