Ahead of the Imo gubernatorial election, the resident electoral commissioner (REC), Prof Sylvia Agu has said 2,300 army operatives will be deployed for the November 11, 2023 election.
This is even as she admitted that the National Assembly election was riddled with irregularities.
Prof Agu made the disclosure while addressing newsmen at a 2-day media roundtable/engagement on the forthcoming Imo governorship election which was organised by the International Press Centre (IPC) and supported by the European Union Support to Democratic Governance in Nigeria- phase 2 (EU – SDGN II) in Owerri the Imo State capital, yesterday.
Agu said the General Officer Commanding of 34 Artillery Brigade Obinze, Brigadier General Usman Lawal gave INEC the assurance during a parley.
According to her, the army had assured the commission of adequate security saying the 2,300 personnel will be drawn from three battalions.
On the National Assembly election in Imo State, the Imo REC admitted that there were flaws but maintained that it was caused by adhoc staff who suddenly declined participation on the eve of election over alleged security concerns.
Agu said, “I can tell you that we had the problem we had during the presidential and national assembly election because of sabotage, some of our adhoc staff declined to work on the eve of the election, but that was corrected during state assembly election.
“I’m the REC ,I did not go to the field to conduct the election, my workers did ,we have no report except from Ideato South and Isu ,I have my people on the field, they’re my eyes, so there was no magic, result was declared in all the LGAs except two and it was brought to my table”, she said.
Reacting to criticisms over the state assembly election, the Imo REC said the commission operated without bias saying “INEC has responsibilities, I believe I did my duties, we distributed materials in front of party agents from the CBN office, I never designated the duty to anybody, that morning I even went to two council areas”.
Journalists had openly picked holes with her over the election wherein the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) was declared winner in 25 out of 27 state constituencies.
Agu assured that INEC will conduct a free and fair gubernatorial election come November 11 saying all modalities are almost being taken care of.
Earlier, the executive director Centre for Media and Society (CEMESO), Akin Akingbolu called on journalists in Imo to maintain fairness, balance and impartiality in their reportage.
Angela Agoawike, former secretary of Nigerian Guild of Editors was a resource person at the two-day workshop.
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