Ahead of the February 25 presidential election, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said machines for Bimodal Voters’ Accreditation System (BVAS) have so far been configured for 23 out of the 25 local government areas in Delta State.
INEC’s Head of Voter Education and Publicity in the state Bukola Ojeme made this known in Asaba during an audience participatory programme on television.
The programme with the theme ‘Rights and Responsibilities of the Electorates before, during and after the 2023 General Elections in Nigeria’ was sponsored by the National Association of Seadogs (NAS) under its Citizens’ Summit on Our Votes Count advocacy.
Ojeme who featured alongside the state chairman of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Michael Ikeogwu and the state director of the National Orientation Agency (NOA), Uche Anyabuine, said over 6,000 BVAS machines were deployed to Delta for the election.
According to him, the commission would engage a total of 24,273 staff including 563 Supervisory Polling Officers (SPOs) for the conduct of the Presidential and National Assembly elections in Delta.
Ojeme reiterated the assurances of the INEC chairman, Mahmoud Yakubu, that there would be an election on February 25, saying: “this year’s election is going to be like no other before because there will be less litigation if there’s going to be.”
He disclosed that INEC would be moving sensitive materials from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) close to cluster and polling units a day before the election to avoid the late arrival of election materials.
Commending the NAS advocacy and the ongoing ‘Our Votes Count’ campaign, the state NUJ Chairman, Michael Ikeogwu said more publicity needed to be done to educate and sensitizedsed the public on voter education, especially in rural areas.
On his part, the state Director of NOA, Uche Anyabuine, said the agency was very prepared to synergise with any organisation on sensitisation programmes for personal or national development and lauded NAS for the initiative.
In a remark, the Capon of Vito Corsica Deck of the Pyrates, Emeka Okolo, hinted that many people have the opinion that their votes do not count resulting in voter apathy in previous elections.
Okolo said the major reason for the ‘Citizens’ Summit on Our Votes Count’ is to sensitise the public on voters’ education and other electoral processes.
While appealing to electorates to come out early to cast their votes, Okolo thanked the discussants for their contributions.