AHEAD of the March 18 governorship and state assembly elections, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has started moving sensitive materials, including ballot papers and results sheets, to Lagos and Oyo states.
In Lagos, the sensitive materials were received from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) by the state’s INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner for Lagos, Olusegun Agbaje, on Wednesday, March 15.
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The representative of the Commissioner of Police in Lagos State, Idowu Owohunwa, including party agents, security operatives, election observers, and other critical stakeholders, were on the ground to witness the delivery and distribution of the materials to the 20 LGAs in the state.
Agbaje assured the public that the commission was fully prepared to conduct a free, fair, and credible election, and he called on all stakeholders to cooperate and support the process. The sensitive materials were secured and intact, ensuring the transparency of the commission.
He said the onward distribution of the materials from the councils to the 245 Wards of the state would begin on Thursday. This would ensure that the materials got to the Registration Area Centres (RAC) and Polling Units on time on Friday and Saturday mornings, respectively.
He noted that the commission was committed to ensuring that all materials, including the result sheets, were made available at the 13,325 polling units in the state.
He emphasised that the commission was not a political party but was committed to ensuring that votes counted. He also urged the Electoral Officers and the Supervisory Polling Officers (SPOs) to ensure that all forms reached the various polling units in the state.
Agbaje decried that some hoodlums waylaid the movement of materials to polling units during the February 25 Presidential and National Assembly Elections, which caused delays, especially in the Eti-Osa constituency.
He appealed to security agencies to prevent such incidents on Saturday.
He added that the commission was in constant communication with members of the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES) to improve the security for the election and ensure it was free and fair.
The commissioner of police, represented by Sagir Ismail, assured voters and residents of adequate security personnel to provide security on election day and urged them to go out and exercise their franchise without fear.
In Oyo, the exercise was done in the presence of election stakeholders, including security agents and party representatives, at the premises of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Ibadan.
The state’s Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Adeniran Tella, stated that all the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) had been properly configured for the elections.
The Assistant Inspector-General of Police in charge of Zone XI, Osogbo, Sikiru Akande, assured INEC of the support of the Nigeria Police Force in delivering credible and fair elections, warning that the force would not tolerate any attempt to disrupt the process.
The Public Relations Officer of the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) in the state, Biodun Popoola, expressed satisfaction with the level of preparation by INEC for the upcoming election.
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