The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has dispatched sensitive materials to all the places for Saturday by-elections.
In Enugu, INEC, on Thursday, received sensitive electoral materials for Isiuzo State Constituency by-election from the Central Bank of Nigeria (NAN), in Enugu.
The commission’s officials in Enugu State received the materials in the presence of electoral stakeholders, political parties and the media at about 2p.m.
Receiving the sensitive materials, Dr Emeka Ononamadu, INEC’s Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Enugu State, said that the commission had remained transparent and carried everybody along in the bye-election.
According to him, making this process open is to ensure that everybody sees that the sensitive materials were not tampered with and had remained intact.
“We are ready to conduct a free, fair and hitch-free election come Saturday and what we are doing now further establishes our fairness to all.
“From here, we will move the sensitive materials to the Isiuzo Local Government Area secretariat, where we have emplaced serious and water-tight security.
“While on Friday evening, we will sort the sensitive materials and move them to our racks for deployment to the polling centres Saturday morning,’’ he said.
Chief Chidubem Udeh, who represented the All Progress Congress (APC), lauded INEC for carrying everybody along, adding that “we have been experiencing transparency and inclusiveness so far from INEC’’.
Udeh said that his party was satisfied with the processes so far and “we have no complaint’’.
The PDP representative at the CBN, however, did not speak to journalists, saying that “I was not permitted to speak to the press’’.
Mr Ken Ike, Chairman of Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC), Enugu State, said that since the official announcement for the by-election, INEC had been consulting with various electoral stakeholders in the state.
“INEC has been carrying everyone along throughout the whole process for this by-election and we are here now at the CBN witnessing the receipt and onward movement of sensitive materials to Isiuzo Local Government Area,’’ Ike said.
Also in Lagos State, INEC says it has received and dispatched sensitive materials for Saturday’s Lagos East Senatorial and Kosofe Constituency II House of Assembly by-elections to the affected council areas.
INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner, Sam Olumekun, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Lagos that the materials were received and dispatched in the full glare of the political parties’ representatives and security agencies to ensure transparency.
“We have received and sent the various sensitive materials for the by-elections to the five local government areas where the elections will hold.
“These materials were collected in the presence of political parties and security agents. The relevant people were there to witness the collection and distribution. We don’t only want to be transparent, we want to be seen to be transparent.
“These various materials have been moved to the five local government areas where they will be shared into various registration areas in the presence of party agents,” the INEC boss told NAN.
He said that INEC was not leaving any stone un-turned in its preparations to conduct free, fair, credible and acceptable by-elections on Saturday in Lagos East Senatorial District and Kosofe State Constituency II.
According to him, both sensitive and non sensitive materials for the election will be deployed from wards to each of the 1,928 polling units located in the five component LGAs in the senatorial district.
Olumekun urged the eligible voters to come out en mass to exercise their franchise on Saturday in a peaceful and orderly manner.
He said that the INEC was poised to conduct elections that everyone, including participating political parties, would be proud of.
According to him, INEC, in collaboration with security agencies, had made adequate arrangements for smooth and safe conduct of the election.
NAN reports that the five local government areas that make up the Lagos East Senatorial District are Somolu, Kosofe, Ikorodu, Epe and Ibeju-Lekki.
Candidates from 12 political parties will be contesting in the Lagos East Senatorial by-election, while eight candidates will be contesting the Kosofe Constituency II, Lagos State House of Assembly by-election.
The two by-elections, slated for Saturday, became necessary following the demise of the former occupants who were members of APC.
NAN
