Politics
THE Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Plateau state, says it has received sensitive and non-sensitive materials for the Feb. 25, presidential and National Assembly elections.
The Resident Electoral Commissioner in the state, Dr Oliver Agundu, disclosed this in Jos on Tuesday while addressing party representatives and other stakeholders.
Agundu stated that the materials have been safely kept at the Central Bank branch in the state.
“I wish to also inform all of you that we have taken delivery of non-sensitive materials of different categories like Ballots Boxes, Voting Cubicle and we have deployed almost all to the Local Goverment Areas (LGAs). As we speak, deployment is still ongoing.
“In terms of sensitive materials, I wish to also inform you that ballot papers and results sheets have arrived in the state and are safely kept at the Central Bank.
“I can therefore confirm that we are ready for the elections. At the appropriate time, all critical stakeholders will have access to the materials for inspection before deployment to their respective LGAs,” he said.
Agundu explained that the configuration of BVAS to specific polling units is ongoing and has equally taken delivery of a reasonable quantity of the backups for any eventuality during voting.
He said this goes to substantiate the commission’s position that there is no going back on the deployment of BVAS as an instrument of accreditation of prospective voters in the general election to ensure credibility and transparency of the polls.
He enjoined candidates contesting in the elections and all political actors to come to terms with the reality that BVAS had come to stay and there is no going back on its deployments as the only instrument of accreditation.
The Resident Commissioner added that BVAS is also going to be the instrument for the transmission of results at the polling units, stating that the technology became imperative to improve the openness and credibility of elections.
Agundu revealed that six polling units in four LGAs in the state, namely – Bassa, Jos North, Mangu and Wase – would not participate in the elections for some reasons which resulted in zero registration in the affected polling centres.
He called on political parties, security agencies and other stakeholders to take note and act accordingly by not deploying agents or personnel in such places during the elections.
Malam Mohammed Haruna, National Commissioner, INEC, in charge of Plateau, FCT, Nasarawa and Kaduna states, stated that the commission has so far kept faith with its timelines and is generally ready to conduct the election as planned and envisaged. (NAN)
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Tags: INEC
