By Tony Adibe
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said it has moved all sensitive materials – result sheets and Bi-Modal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines – to its local government area offices within Enugu State.
Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) for Enugu State, Dr Chukwuemeka Chukwu, told newsmen on Thursday in Enugu that the materials had been received at 17 council areas in the state as at 4p.m.
He said: “as you can see the political party agents and observers are here since morning and have observed the last consignment of the sensitive materials loaded and trucked for Enugu South Local Government Area (LGA).
“We have had a seamless, peaceful and satisfactory distribution of the sensitive materials in the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Enugu branch as the last batch of truck of one of the 17 LGAs within town here leaves few minutes ago.
“Those sensitive materials for local government areas in the hinterland have been moved earlier in the morning as we started the sorting and loading by LGAs as early as 5a.m. today.” From each of the INEC LGA offices, the sensitive materials, which will be well sorted this evening, would start moving to the Registration Area Centres (RAC) early on Friday, March 17, the REC explained.
According to the commissioner, “With the tight arrangement we have made on transport, which the process is ongoing smoothly as well as the firm agreement we had with the transport unions, I believe that election materials will arrive the polling units latest 7:30a.m. on March 18.
“As we have reiterated, INEC will be conducting a hitch-free Governorship and State Assembly polls as well as rescheduled Enugu East Senatorial Zone poll on March 18 in Enugu State. All hands are on deck in the commission and with our electoral stakeholders to conduct a peaceful, hitch-free, credible, and fair polls come March 18.”
He also said that provision for replacement of incomplete sensitive materials had been made by the national headquarters to ensure all materials are intact going into the elections. Chairman of Labour Party in Enugu State, Barrister Casmir Agbo said that the party and its agents had followed the distribution of the sensitive materials at the CBN.
He said the LP team has monitored what has been ongoing at the CBN Enugu since morning with keen interest and it has been on smoothly. Agbo said: “However, INEC did not open the nylon sealing of the sensitive materials’ cartons for us to see into it as well as interrogate discrepancies.
“The commission said that the packages will be unsealed at INEC LGA offices, and we are sending our party agents to follow them through and observe the process and ensure that the sensitive materials are complete and intact.”
