Ahead of the Saturday, November 16th governorship election in Ondo State, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), on Thursday, distributed sensitive materials to all the 18 local government areas of the state.
Monitoring the exercise, held at the Akure branch of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Resident Electoral Commissioner in Ondo State, Mrs. Toyin Babalola, assured residents of the state, political parties and all stakeholders of the commission’s readiness to conduct a transparent, free and fair election.
The REC further stated that the early distribution of the sensitive materials was to show that the commission was ready for the election.
Babalola, however, promised that the electoral body would be transparent in the conduct of the election.
She further explained that the materials will be moved to the 18 local governments with the help of security agencies.
“You can see that the distribution exercise is going on very smoothly. The farthest local governments have started moving to their local governments. All the other local governments, they received their materials, they are checking, and they are loading the vehicles.
“I’m sure in another one and a half hours, we should be out of it. You can see the logistics we are distributing today, and this is just 10 minutes after noon. The vehicles are already moving,” Babalola said.
She identified Ilaje and Ese-Odo as difficult terrain on water, adding that the materials and personnel would be conveyed to the areas with boats while adding that the commission also have the support of the Navy whose gunboats have been deployed to secure the movement.
“For the land where we have difficult terrain, we will move out to the place where vehicles can reach and we will continue the rest with suitable means of transportation, she added.
Babalola however, appealed to political parties to eschew violence on the Election Day, adding that the sensitive materials were being distributed to ensure that no ward or polling unit was omitted or failed to get materials for the election.
The Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state, Engr. Ade Adetimehin and the state Chairman of the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC), Mr. Adesanya Olaoluwa commended INEC for its transparency in the exercise.
They assured that all political parties participating in the election were ready to cooperate with the commission for the successful conduct of the governorship election.
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