Five political parties are to participate in Saturday’s by- election for the vacant seat of Dekina-Okura state constituency of Kogi State.
The parties are Accord Party, African Democratic Congress (ADC), All Progressives Congress (APC), Allied Peoples Movement (APM), and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The by-election followed the death of former Deputy Speaker of the Kogi State House of Assembly, Hon. Enema Paul on December 14, 2024.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) resident electoral commissioner (REC) for Kogi State, Dr Oliver Agundu, stated this in Lokoja on Wednesday.
Agundu, expressed readiness for the exercise, adding that preparation for the Saturday by-election is completed.
Speaking through INEC’s Education Officer, Haruna Haliru, the REC said the commission had held a meeting of Inter Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES) to strategise on securing personnel and materials during and after the polls.
He noted that all non-sensitive materials had already been deployed to the local government, while sensitive materials were expected to arrive latest Thursday.
“Training for Supervisory Presiding Officers (SPOs), who are mostly INEC staff, has been completed, along with the training for Presiding Officers (POs) and Assistant Presiding Officers (APOs) in Anyigba from August 8 to 10.
“We have concluded the training of our supervisory presiding officers (SPOs) who are mainly INEC staff in readiness for the election,” he said.
“All non-sensitive materials have been deployed to the local government and we are only waiting for the arrival of the sensitive materials on Wednesday or Thursday.
The REC assured stakeholders of a free, fair, transparent and credible election, urging all registered voters in the constituency to turn out in large numbers, maintain order and vote for the candidates of their choice.
