INEC Releases Total Number Of Agents To Participate In Bayelsa, Imo, Kogi Gov Elections

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Tuesday confirmed the total number of accredited party agents to participate in the forthcoming governorship elections in Bayelsa, Imo and Kogi State.

Naija News reports that the electoral body scheduled November 11, 2023, for the off-cycle poll across the three states. Amid anticipation, the electoral umpire on Tuesday released a list of polling and collation agents showing a total of 137,973 persons representing the All Progressives Congress (APC), the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Labour Party and other political parties participating in the governorship election.

INEC noted at the close of the deadline for uploading the list of agents to the INEC dedicated portal by political parties, that 34,704 agents were uploaded for Bayelsa State, 65,274 for Imo State and 37,995 for Kogi State, making a total of 137,973 agents.

In a statement signed and made available to journalists by INEC National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun, the electoral umpire stated that “the detailed breakdown shows that not all the parties nominated agents for the polling and collation centres across the States. Indeed, some political parties have no polling unit or collation agents in some States despite having candidates in the election.”

The Information Booklet for the three governorship polls, released by INEC, presents an infographic summary of the registered voters and Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) collected by Local Government Areas (LGAs). Additionally, it provides the distribution of registered voters based on gender, age group, occupation, and disability.

The statement added: “The publication also includes the list of candidates and detailed information on the two polling units in Bayelsa and 38 in Imo State without registered voters. The Commission has repeatedly said that elections will not be held in these polling units. No materials have been produced for these locations, and no officials will be deployed to them.

“Sixteen political parties are sponsoring candidates for the election in Bayelsa State and 18 in both Imo and Kogi States. The elections will be held in 10,470 polling units (excluding the 40 polling units without registered voters).

“Each political party is expected to nominate polling agents for all the polling units as well as 649 Ward, 56 LGA and three State collation centres.”