INEC Distributes Non-Sensitive Materials Ahead of Rerun Elections in Bauchi State
By Ahmed Ahmed
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it has distributed non-sensitive materials for the rerun elections into the 42 polling units of three local government areas of Bauchi State.
Alhaji Mohammed Nura, the State Resident Electoral Commissioner stated this at a stakeholders meeting on Thursday in Bauchi, saying the Commission is ready to conduct rerun elections in 42 Polling Units of the State.
He disclosed that all non-sensitive election materials had been received and distributed to the three affected local government areas of Bauchi, Katagum and Ningi.
Nura explained that the materials had been batched into Registration Areas and Polling Units to ensure that no item for the elections was omitted.
The REC revealed that the sensitive election materials such as ballot papers, result sheets and Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) would be transported to the Local Government Areas next week.
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“You may recall that the Court of Appeal nullified the results of 42 Polling Units in four State House of Assembly constituencies of Bauchi, Zungur/Galambi, Ningi and Madara/Chinade within three Government Areas of Bauchi, Katagum and Ningi.
“Kindly note, however, that this is not different from the 2023 election but a continuation of it.
“All Political parties that fielded candidates during the 2023 General Election in these constituencies will participate in the rerun elections,” Nura said
The REC said that at least 126 ad hoc personnel, mostly members of NYSC who will work at the Polling Units, had been trained for the exercise.
“Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES) meeting was held yesterday (January 24) where members, some of whom are with us here, edged to provide adequate security for the election officials and materials as well as voters for peaceful elections.”
“The elections will be conducted using BVAS for accreditation, authentication, and result upload to the IReV.
“Therefore, eligible voters must visit their Polling Units with the Permanent Voters Card (PVC) as there shall be no voting without PVC,” he said.
He added that, So far BVAS for all the Polling Units have been configured and ready to be used on Election Day, while technical support Staff will be at each Polling Unit to ensure the device works well.
Nura also said that the Registration Area Centres (RACs) will be activated on Friday next week by 4:00 pm where ad-hoc personnel would be camped and retrained before moving to their respective Polling Units very early on election day for the conduct of elections.