Ahead of Saturday’s bye-election in Patigi Constituency of Kwara State, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has disclosed that 43,695 permanent voter cards have been distributed in the area out of the 5I,476 received from the headquarters of the Commission.
The Resident Electoral Commissioner in the state, Mallam Attahiru Garuba Madami, who spoke at a media briefing on Wednesday in Ilorin, the state capital, said that 7,781 uncollected PVCs are in the custody of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
It is recalled that the Patigi Constituency seat in the state House of Assembly was declared vacant after the demise of Ahmed Saidu Rufai who was elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Madami further stated that his office had taken delivery of sensitive and nonsensitive materials to be used for the bye-election, which, he said, have been kept with the apex bank in Ilorin, adding that the electoral umpire did not foresee any hitch as all requisite facilities for the exercise had been provided.
The REC informed that the INEC had held series of meetings with the police and other security agencies for adequate security, pointing out that no credible poll can be conducted in the country without maximum security guaranteed.
Madami stated that the electoral commission had directed political parties in the poll to end their campaign on Thursday, warning parties and individuals against flouting the electoral guidelines.
He listed six parties participating in the bye-election and their candidates to include African Action Congress (AAC), Usman Sheu; African Democratic Congress (ADC), Zubairu Shaaba Musa; All Progressives Congress (APC), Ahmed Adam Rufai; Allied Peoples Movement (APM), Muhammed Aishat; New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Oladipo Benjamin; and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mohammed Salihu Yahaya.
“We have held series of meetings with the police and other security agencies on the need for credible election. Without security, you cannot conduct free and fair election.
“And before you can talk of good election, the duo of INEC and security are very key. If anything goes wrong, they are also to be blamed.
“As far as we are concerned, we don’t have any shortage of materials for the bye-election. We have received both sensitive and nonsensitive materials and they are safely and well kept with the CBN”, REC said.
He assured that the INEC would conduct the bye-election better than the 2019 poll in Kwara state which he said was adjudged to be the best in the country then.
Leave a Reply