Off Cycle Elections: INEC assures adequate security for Kogi, Bayelsa, Imo
transmission of election results is as provided by the law
The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Prof. Mahmood Yakubu has assured adequate Security for the off cycle governorship elections in Kogi, Bayelsa and Imo state.
Prof Mahmood, disclosed this on Saturday when he visited kogi state to monitor the mock accreditation exercise, said the commission will meet with heads of securities to discuss issues of Security for the election.
On the level of security preparedness, he said, “so far so good in terms of assurance from the security agencies, as we can see, they’re even here for the MOCK and next week, Friday.
“There is going to be a high level meeting in Abuja, chaired by myself and the national security adviser in which all the security chiefs will be present, no representation to discuss the issue of security for the three states so we are on top of the situation in terms of security arrangement and security deployment.
Prof Mahmood, said the method of accreditation and transmission of election results is as provided by the law, “electronic upload of results on the IREV portal and that is why we are doing this mock. So please disregard whatever was reported about what the REC was said to have said in Bayelsa.
“That’s going to be the procedure and it’s for that reason that I will advise you also for those who are registered on the IREV portal, that in the next two hours or so, they should go to the IREV portal you will see the result of the mock from all the three states, we are uploading, as we have done in previous elections.
Professor Mahmood who was satisfied with the mock accreditation exercise said lessons learnt would help the commission a free and fair election.
Some of the polling units and RAC centres visited by the INEC Chairman include Crowther memorial college Sabon-gari in Lokoja local government area, where 11 voters had participated in the exercise as at the time of visitation; FSP Anebo quarters, Lokoja LGA, and School, Ganaja Village, among others.
Speaking after the mock accreditation exercise, INEC Chairman said the commission will deploy 8 BVAS machine in Ganaja, on election day, Saturday 11, November 2023 for easy accreditation of voters, adding that the polling unit is the largest polling unit, and most densely populated in Nigeria, having 13,000 registered voters.
He said, “We chose this polling unit because it is the largest polling unit and most densely populated in Nigeria. It has 13,000 registered voters. After the election, the Commission will redistribute the voters to other approximate locations. But for now, we’ll have to conduct the elections with the number of registered voters in this polling unit.
“And for that reason, we are deploying a minimum of eight BVAS machines on election day, Saturday 11, November 2023 for easy accreditation of voters.
“One of the challenges of this location is flooding. It is not only by the river Niger, it is actually by confluence, where River Niger and Benue meet and on our way you saw evidence of flooding. And that’s why we took you to Gadumu where if there is flooding before the election, we’ll pull the adhoc staff our of there and move them at first light on Saturday to this polling unit.
“But our preference will be to use this place as a super-rack where we will camp the Ad-hoc staff overnight, so that they will do the setting up on Friday, and at first light on Saturday, INEC officials and materials will be waiting for voters rather than the other way around. So this is one of the largest polling units in the country and that’s where we are here.
He however noted that the commission, is a taking proactive measures to ensure that it give voters a pleasant voting experience on Election Day.
