inec promises to deliver smooth governorship elections

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said it had put necessary measures in place to conduct seamless election on across the country on Saturday.
Kayode Idowu, the Chief Press Secretary to the chairman of INEC, stated this in an interview with newsmen on Tuesday in Abuja.
Idowu said that after the March 28 elections, the commission evaluated the processes to ensure that identified challenges were addressed.
“The commission is very optimistic that there will be much more seamless election on April 11.
“Take card reader for example, the commission had given directive that the cellophane on the surface of the gadget must be removed,” he said.
He said that the commission had also directed that the SIM of the card reader that required activation before use must be activated in a phone before being inserted in card readers.
“The commission has also directed that card readers’ batteries must be fully charged before the elections and all logistics provided.
“These include the provision of generator sets at Registration Areas Centres (RACs) where card readers were expected to be charged.
“The commission also instructed the states to ensure that the RACs are functional,” he said.
Idowu added that the commission had instructed Resident Electoral Commission (RECs) in the states to re-engage security agencies, especially the police, in order to ensure adequate security during the election.
According to him, with these provisions already in place, the commission is unlikely to resort to manual accreditation.
He disclosed that RECs had been directed to re-engage National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) for distribution of materials, adding that they would meet their leaders to ensure that their vehicles were released early for the exercise.
“This approach would enhance early dispatches of electoral materials to polling units,” he said.
On protest by 16 political parties to the commission’s headquarters over Rivers elections, Kayode said he was unaware of such protest or any petition.
He said the only petition sent to the commission was properly investigated and addressed before the final collation of the presidential election result.