The Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mamood Yakubu has urged staff of the commission in Bayelsa to be diligent and follow electoral guidelines in discharging their responsibilities in the Nov. 16, governorship election in the state.
Yakubu made the call during an interactive session with staff members of the commission in Yenegoa, Bayelsa.
He urged them not just to ensure that the election was credible, but also ensure that polling units across the state open at 8a.m.
“We have exactly 30 days to the opening of polling units at a.m. on Nov. 16. We are all employed to render service to the nation and that service is one of the most important we can render.
“We want to open the poll at 8a.m. All it required is hard work and early preparations. Let us do everything we can to open the boots at 8am,” he said.
He urged the staff to safe guard election materials during the election.
Yakubu said the Nov. 16 governorship election would be a bit different from previous polls in the state in term of number of candidates.
“In 2015, we have 20 parties that fielded candidate, but in 2019 we have 45 parties fielding candidates,” Yakubu said.
He said that it means the process is expected to be longer than it was in 2015 especially in the collation of results before the final collation at the state headquarters.
Yakubu called for the collaboration among staff to ensure that where there were large concentration of Internally Displaced Persons within the states, they were not disenfranchised in the election.
He assured the staff that the commission was keen about their welfare and security to deliver on their responsibilities.
The state INEC Resident Electoral Commissioners (REC), Pastor Monday Tom, assured the chairman that his team was ready for a free, fair, credible and peaceful election on Nov. 16.
Tom said that the preparations for the election was in progress and on scheduled including the training electoral Officers.
“Also, logistics arrangements had reached advance stages as we have concluded all discussions with the boat suppliers and Transport Unions. Right now they are all being profiled by the security agencies.”
Yakubu had earlier inspected some INEC facilities and non sensitive election materials in some of its local government area offices in the state including Kolokumw/Opokuma and Yenagoa. (NAN)