The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Thursday began the deployment Ad hoc staff and distribution of sensitive materials to the various local government areas for Saturday’s off circle governorship election in Kogi.
The INEC Kogi Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Dr Gabriel Longpet, disclosed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lokoja.
Longpet said that the commission was 100 per cent prepared for the poll.
He added that the arrival of the sensitive materials in Kogi, through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Monday, made their preparation complete.
“We shall be at CBN for the distribution of the sensitive materials to the 3,508 polling units in the various local government areas.
“We had inspected the materials on Tuesday and today, Thursday, we are distributing them in readiness for Saturday off circle governorship election in Kogi.
“We expect that the staff and the materials will be ready at the LGAs by 12.00 noon for on ward movement to the wards and RACs, by 4.00 p.m.
“Again, we expect that they will be in the various RACs by Saturday morning, say 6.00 a.m., with all the staff set for commencement of the election.
“We try as much as possible to ensure that those who are at far distant locations get to their locations without any delay.
“It’s in Lokoja here that you have some of the farthest places in the state, very difficult areas to reach. It takes like between 7 and 8 hours to get to Kupa community, ” he said.
The REC expressed the hope that by God’s grace the commission would conduct a peaceful, free, fair and credible election on Saturday.
He called on the residents to come out en masse to cast their votes for candidates of their choice since the security operatives have given assurance of adequate security during the election. (NAN)
