Olakunle Maruf
The Independent National Electoral Commission, Sokoto State office has commenced the distribution of sensitive materials to all the local government headquarters in the state.
While briefing newsmen at the Central Bank of Nigeria office on Wednesday, the Resident Electoral Commissioner for the state, Dr. Nura Ali, said all the sensitive materials are already in the state.
He said the commission has before now distributed all the insensitive materials to all the local governments in the state, saying the commission is fully ready for the conduct of the general elections.
He reaffirmed that the commission, in conjunction with the Nigerian Police Force and other security agencies, will ensure elections hold in all the 23 local governments in the state.
He said, “we have been having a day-to-day engagement with all the security agencies in the state, and they have all assured us of maximum protection throughout the election.
“I want to use this opportunity to assure our people in Sokoto State that INEC is ready to conduct free, fair, and credible elections.”
Speaking on the number of polling units in the state, the Resident Electoral Commissioner confirmed that out of 3,991 polling units in the state, only eight polling units were delisted due to the absence of voters in the said units.
He further explained that the state’s commission already possesses about 3,999 BVAS machine apart from backup, which may be used in case of any emergency.
He said out of the total number of BVAS machines sent to the state, only five were faulty, which he said has been replaced by the commission’s national headquarters with additional extra.
“We have received all the BVAS machines and kept them in our ICT department when we text them, we realized five were not working perfectly and we alerted them in Abuja after which they changed it for us and gave us eight back instead.”
“We plan to ensure that the election on Saturday commence across the state by 8:am and in accordance with the rules and regulations of the country,” he added.
