Sensitive electoral materials leave CBN’s vaults for states tomorrow – INEC

Sensitive electoral materials at the vaults of Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) would be evacuated and distributed to state offices of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) tomorrow ahead of Saturday’s presidential and National Assembly elections, it was revealed yesterday.
INEC said while the non-sensitive materials had already reached locations of the elections, the sensitive ones would be taken from states offices to local government offices on Thursday and the wards on Friday.
In an interview with Daily Trust yesterday, spokesperson of the INEC chairman, Kayode Idowu also disclosed that the stolen card reader in Zamfara State would not function on the Election Day, as it has to be configured to a particular polling unit before it can accept PVCs of same configured polling unit.
“The commission is very ready, as in readiness to go. The materials, non-sensitive ones have already been deployed. They are in location for onward distribution,” he said when asked of INEC’s readiness for the polls in terms of logistics.
“The sensitive materials that have been sitting in CBN vaults would be taken out on Wednesday to the state office. From the state office, we would distribute to the local government offices on Thursday, from local governments we distribute to the ward levels on Friday. By 5am on Saturday, people leave the wards to go to the polling units.
“That is the way it is always been done. Trainings have been concluded for our staff, even the second level trainings. The issue of delays, since Anambra election, the commission has gotten a handle of delay. The timeliness of commencement was in almost 85 percent, and it is the function of the system that we put in place,” he said.
On the card reader stolen in Anka local government of Zamfara State during a training of ad hoc staff, he said INEC had consistently said that it had more than enough of the card readers to be deployed for the election and that the stolen one would not function in the hands of any individuals other than INEC staff.
“The card reader cannot be used anywhere else except at the polling units on the Election Day, because the Permanent Voter Cards are allotted and issued on the basis of the polling units. So if you take your PVC to any place, to go and meet card reader in that place, you are on your own. Honestly, there is no way it would affect the system.
“Our polling staff are not even the ones that configured it; they are administrators, there are people who configured it, who would not be at the polling units. Those who would conduct the elections are not the ones who configured it, because they don’t have the skills. So how will they be able to affect anything?” he explained.