The Nigerian electoral umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), says preparations against the February 25th presidential and National Assembly election has hit top gear in Otukpo local government area of Benue State, North-central Nigeria.
The state’s electoral officer, Mutsan Kutdiyel- Dashan, disclosed this in an interview with Voice of Nigeria.
According to him, sensitive and non-sensitive election materials for the conduct of the polls have been received from the INEC National Headquarters, and distribution to the 13 wards under the local government area has commenced.
‘The essence of this exercise is to ensure that we start early and have our polling units open earlier on the day of election.
‘There will be no difficulty in the distribution of these materials to the various wards.
‘The commission is in synergy with the security agencies through the Inter-agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES), and adequate provision for security is in place to ensure a hitch-free exercise.
‘The INEC and security agencies have made enough strategies on how to provide adequate security to ensure and secure both the electoral officials and the voters,’ he said.
On the readiness of the voters, he noted that the INEC and other stakeholders have used voter education mechanism to sensitize the people to the need to maintain peace and order, stressing that all measures had been put in place to ensure peaceful polls.
He, therefore, called on voters in the local government area to come out en masse on Saturday to cast their votes without fear.
According to the INEC’s current record, Otukpo local government area has a total of 149,987 registered voters.
Edited by Amaka E. Nliam
