The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has commenced the distribution of sensitive materials and the deployment of ad hoc staff to the 21 local government areas of Kogi State ahead of the governorship election scheduled for Saturday.
The INEC resident electoral commissioner in Kogi, Gabriel Longpet, made this known on Thursday in Lokoja, the state capital. He said the commission was fully prepared for the poll and had received the sensitive materials from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Monday.
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“We have inspected the materials and we are now distributing them to the 3,508 polling units across the state. We expect that the staff and the materials will be ready at the local government areas by 12:00 noon today and they will move to the wards and registration area centres (RACs) by 4:00 p.m.,” he said.
The INEC electoral commissioner in Kogi added that the staff and materials would be at the RACs by 6:00 a.m. on Saturday for the commencement of the election. He noted that some areas in Lokoja were difficult to access and would take between seven and eight hours to reach.
He urged the people of Kogi to come out in large numbers and vote for their preferred candidates, assuring them of adequate security during the election. He said the commission had collaborated with the security agencies to ensure a peaceful and credible exercise.