By Douglas Okoro
Abakaliki, March 5, 2019
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says 35 candidates would take part in Saturday’s governorship poll in Ebonyi.
Prof. Godswill Obioma, INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in the state, announced this at a consultative meeting with stakeholders at the commission’s office in Abakaliki on Tuesday.
Obioma said the meeting was convened to provide platform for the commission to brief stakeholders on INEC’s preparedness for the conduct of the March 9 Governorship and State House of Assembly elections in the state.
He also noted that the meeting would provide opportunity for the commission to interact with political parties, candidates and other stakeholders on the level of preparations for the elections.
According to him, all necessary arrangements are in place for the Saturday, March 9 Governorship and State House of Assembly elections in the state.
He warned that the commission would not tolerate any form of election irregularities, stressing that INEC would nullify result from polling units with proven evidence of election malpractices.
He said there would not be manual voting, insisting that accreditation and voting must be done through the use of Card Readers.
He warned that the commission would nullify results in voting centres where voting is not done through the use of the Card Reader.
“INEC is fully prepared for the conduct of the Governorship and State House of Assembly elections in the state.
“On Friday, the commission began verification of sensitive election materials kept in the volt of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) along with accredited state party agents and security operatives.
“All ballot papers, result sheets, collation sheets and other vital sensitive election materials kept at the CBN, Abakaliki branch, were all verified in line with the commission’s policy of openness and transparency.
“The verification was done in the presence of party agents and the Department of State Security (DSS) and other security operatives,” he said.
Obioma added:”INEC and party agents are satisfied that materials for the elections are now on ground.
“The commission will on March 6, move the sensitive materials to the 13 local Government Areas (LGAs) of the state under heavy security to prevent interference from unauthorised quarters and deposit them in INEC LGA offices.
“Accreditation and voting must be done through the Card Reader, the commission will cancel results in any polling unit where voting is done manually.
“All accreditation and voting should be with the Permanent Voters’ Card using the Card Reader to verify and authenticate the voter.
“Please, stakeholders, media, Civil Society Organisations and Observers, educate the public that any polling unit where election is done without the use of Card Reader, the result from such polling unit will be zero.”
He appealed to politicians and candidates to eschew violence and urged them to educate their supporters on how to vote properly.
The REC said that thumb printed ballots of any of the elections found not in the corresponding ballot boxes would be invalidated.
He reiterated commitment of the commission to conduct credible, seamless, transparent and successful governorship and state assembly elections and urged the stakeholders to cooperate.
The leadership of the different political parties, candidates and other stakeholders attended the meeting.
