Osun Poll: INEC Receives Sensitive Materials, Corps Members Deployed

Sensitive election materials have arrived in Osogbo ahead of Saturday’s Osun State governorship election, with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) preparing to deploy ad-hoc personnel from a pool of more than 30,000 members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC).

Naija News reports that the development comes as security agencies intensify preparations for the August 15 poll, with no fewer than 25,310 personnel from the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) expected to be deployed across the state.

The Chief Press Secretary to the INEC Chairman, Adedayo Oketola, disclosed the commission’s preparations in an interview with Punch on Monday.

Oketola said although the exact number of ad-hoc workers to be engaged had yet to be finalised, the commission would select personnel from a large pool of corps members.

“For the number of ad-hoc staff, INEC will be pulling from a pool of over 30,000 NYSC members that we’re working with for the election,” he said.

Oketola said 2,339,233 voters were registered in Osun State and therefore eligible to participate in the election.

He, however, said he did not have the latest figure for voters who had collected their Permanent Voter Cards following the extension of the PVC collection exercise.

He said, “Meanwhile, 2,339,233 voters are registered in Osun. So, I’m not sure, you know, we extended PVC collection. I don’t have the data of the number of PVC collected.

“But for eligible voters, these are the people who are eligible to vote, 2,339,233.”

Sensitive Materials Secured At CBN

The INEC official confirmed that both sensitive and non-sensitive materials were already in the state.

He said the commission would not disclose the precise time the sensitive materials arrived because of security concerns.

“Right now, sensitive materials are already in Osun. Nobody will tell you when materials arrived Osun. What is most important is that they have arrived. You see, logistics is complex,” Oketola said.

According to him, sensitive materials, including ballot papers and Bimodal Voter Accreditation System devices, are being kept at the Central Bank of Nigeria.

He explained that the commission’s standard procedure would see the remaining non-sensitive materials moved from Thursday, while sensitive materials would be distributed on Friday.

Oketola said representatives of political stakeholders and security agencies would participate in the distribution of the sensitive materials from the CBN.

He further stated, “Well, that is the standard. By Thursday we start moving non-sensitive and I mean the remaining non-sensitive materials.

“The sensitive materials that are ballot papers and all of that will be moved on Friday from the CBN to the local government offices.”

He added that police officers, other security personnel and electoral officers would be invited to the CBN for the distribution.

“The police, security agents, electoral officers will be invited to the CBN where sensitive materials such as ballot papers and BVAS will be distributed and moved to the local government offices,” he said.

RAC Centres Open Friday

The commission said Registration Area Centres would become operational on Friday to allow personnel and materials to be positioned closer to polling units before Election Day.

“So, by Friday, RAC centres will open, sensitive materials will move to the RACs and non-sensitive materials will also be moved, including ad-hoc staff and security agents,” Oketola stated.

He added that vehicles required to transport election personnel and materials would also be positioned at the centres.

According to him, the arrangement is intended to ensure that polling begins as scheduled.

“This is to ensure that we are able to deploy men and materials on Election Day and then the polling gap opens by 8.30 am,” he said.

Oketola said the commission was also transporting generators, water tanks and other equipment required for the election.

He further stated, “We are going to deploy generators in their numbers to Osun. They are going to deploy water tankers, I mean, water tanks and all sorts of materials, including sensitive materials.

“These things cannot get to Osun on the same day.”

He said election logistics involved staggered movement of equipment and personnel and could not be handled in a single deployment.

Oketola defended the commission’s decision not to disclose precise details about the movement of sensitive materials.

He noted, “The sensitive materials, which are very critical, are warehoused in the CBN.

“This is logistics. And of course it is also about security. If we tell the public where and when they will be moved, don’t you know they can be ambushed?”

He added that the key issue was that the materials were already in the state and secured ahead of distribution.

“So, what is most important is that those things are already in Osun,” Oketola said.