The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced that five political parties will field candidates for the Yobe East Senatorial bye-election in Yobe State.
The Resident Electoral Commissioner (INEC) for Yobe State, Alhaji Ibrahim Abdullahi, disclosed this while briefing journalists on the preparations for the February 3, 2024 bye and re-run elections for Yobe East and Fika/Fune federal constituency.
He said that the political parties participating in the bye-election are African Democratic Congress (ADC), All Progressives Congress (APC), All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Campaigns by these parties are ongoing and, as mandated by law, must cease 24 hours before the election day, which is February 1, 2024.
Abdullahi said that the electoral activities are planned across eight local government areas, 75 registration areas, and 993 polling units that constitute the Yobe East Senatorial constituency, plus one in Fika town.
He added that a total of 4,232 ad hoc staff have been earmarked for deployment, and 1,339 Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines will be used for accreditation.
The training of electoral officials was conducted from January 23rd to 27th, starting with the Supervisory Presiding Officers (SPOs) and then the Presiding and Assistant Presiding Officers.
“We have also engaged with Yobe State critical election stakeholders and relayed relevant information concerning the election to them for dissemination to the general public,” he added.
LEADERSHIP gathered that the Commission had met several times with the Interagency Committee on Election Security (ICCES) to review and update the security status of the LGAs.