By Sunday John
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has distributed sensitive materials to the headquarters of the 13 Local Government Areas in Nasarawa State.
Speaking at the distribution exercise on Wednesday in Lafia, Dr Uthman Ajidagba, Resident Commissioner of INEC in the state said the items were for the Feb. 25, presidential election.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the distribution which took place at the Lafia branch of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), was witnessed by security agencies including the Police, Nigeria Army, Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC), Department of State Security Services (DSS) and representatives of political parties.
The Resident Electoral Commissioner explained that the materials distributed included customised ballot papers, result sheets as well as the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines.
“We have not distributed any sensitive materials to any LGAs until today, so, ballot papers, result sheets and other sensitive forms are all part of the materials being distributed today.
“While ballot papers, result sheets and others were loaded from the CBN Lafia, the BVAS machine were loaded from the Nasarawa State headquarters of the commission,” he added.
Ajidagba also explained that security personnel were assigned to accompany the materials and staff to every LGA to ensure safety.
He also said that all the BVAS machines to be used in the election have been configured and that additional backup BVAS were also deployed alongside technicians to handle unforseen problems.
The REC reassured the public that the commission would deliver a credible, free, fair and transparent election that would reflect the choice of the people.
On his part, Maiyaki Muhammad-Baba, Commissioner of Police in the state said the policemen and other security agencies were fully ready to ensure a peaceful election in all parts of the state.
The CP said that the police had deployed 4, 202 personnel to cover all the 3, 245 polling units in the state. (NAN)
