Barely 16 hours to the Presidential/National Assembly elections, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has begun distribution of sensitive materials to various local government areas in Yobe state.
The materials were received and inspected by INEC’s Resident Electoral Commissioner in the state, Ahmad Makama, through the help of the Commissioner of Police, Abdulmaliki Sunmonu, the State Security Service and political parties at Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in Damaturu.
Speaking after inspecting the materials, Makama told newsmen that 90 percent of the materials have been received and the remaining ones are enroute from Maiduguri.
He said the sensitive materials, which are made up of result sheets and ballot papers were distributed according to local governments for onward delivery by the respective electoral officers.
He said the materials are customised base on local government area and by RA, which make them easier for distribution and delivery.
He assured that the materials would reach the 2,823 voting points in the state on time so that voting would commence at exactly 8:00am tomorrow (Saturday, February16, 2019).
He explained that the state has a total of 1,365,000 registered voters with 1,714 polling units but the state has 2,823 voting where people would actively participate in the voting process.
Makama said the 24 inaccessible registration areas where voting would not take place have been shifted to alternative place so that no eligible voter would be disenfranchise.
Fielding question on the number and safety of corps members, the REC said that 2,065 Corps members have been deployed as presiding officers to local government areas but some of them were withdrew from six local government areas due to insecurity.
“In Geidam alone, we redeployed over 30 Corp members from there to safe places,” he said.
