Politics
Edo, Ondo Polls: No Use Of Party-Branded Face Masks – INEC Warns
INEC has against the use of facemasks with party inscription by electorates during Edo, Ondo gubernatorial election.
Political parties in Edo and Ondo State have been warned against the use of branded facemasks during polls in the forthcoming gubernatorial elections in the two states respectively.
The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC on Wednesday stated that the commission would not distribute facemasks to voters during the state’s governorship elections.
The electoral body, however, warned against the use of any facemask with party inscription on it by voters at the polling units, noting that such will not be tolerated and the voter will be sent off the unit when discovered.
Naija News understands that governorship elections will hold in the two states on September 19 and October 10 respectively.
The development was disclosed on Wednesday, June 3 by the National Commissioner and Chairman, Electoral Operations and Logistics Committee (EOLC), Professor Okechukwu Ibeanu.
Speaking during the commission’s virtual consultative meeting with the press in Abuja yesterday, the EOLC boss noted that the use of face masks by the electorates during the exercise is a must, but that such must not have a party inscription on it, else, “any voter with branded face masks will be turned back from the polling unit”.
He said, “We are talking about 6.4 million voters. Even if you handed out masks at N100, that is N640 million. Should INEC be spending N640 million on face masks that organizations and government agencies can actually give to people?”
“It is not just about the election, it will help in the circumstances of the pandemic. I don’t think anybody in Nigeria should not have access to face masks now. The important thing is that people can also improvise, and they need to understand that they can do so”.
He added, “Since the 2019 general elections, there has not been new CVR. If the collection of the PVCs is allowed for Edo and Ondo polls, the same demand will be made for bye-elections. So we decided not to allow the collection of PVCs before the elections,”
A slight change in the voting duration was also revealed by the commissioner. The process will kickstart by 8:30 am and come to a close by 2:30 pm as against the usual 8 am to 2 pm.
Meanwhile, the All Progressives Congress has promised to provide a level playing field for all governorship aspirants during the governorship primaries in Edo state.
