As part of its preparations for a smooth, free and fair governorship and state assembly elections, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has begun distribution of sensitive materials to various 20 local councils in Bauchi State.
The distribution was done amid armed security personnel and anti-corruption experts from both the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and Independent Corrupt Practices and Related Offences Commission (ICPC).
Speaking to reporters, Resident Electoral Commissioner in charge of Bauchi INEC, Mohammed Nura, said the early distribution of the sensitive materials is to allow the commission make adequate provision for the materials in the event where there is a s shortfall.
“We are here at the CBN premises to distribute sensitive materials in custody of the CBN to the various local government areas.
“We decided to start the distribution today (Wednesday) to make sure that the materials distributed to the local governments are intact and in the right quantity.
“The other time we distributed the materials on Thursday and everything reached the local government headquarters same Thursday, so they had Friday and up to the early hours of the day to escalate to the polling units,” he said.
The commissioner said the delay in commencement of voting in some polling units during the presidential and national assembly elections were not connected to late disbursement of materials to polling units.
He assured that all local government areas of the state will have adequate election materials for next Saturday’s polls.
