No fewer than 200 armed policemen and soldiers have been deployed to escort sensitive materials to the 17 Local Government Areas of Enugu State, says an INEC official.
Dr Emeka Ononamadu, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Residents Electoral Commissioner in Enugu State, disclosed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Enugu on Friday.
Ononamadu was speaking while distributing sensitive materials at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Enugu.
NAN reports that the sensitive materials being off-loaded included ballot papers and its accessories as well as result sheets, which is Form EC 8B from the truck-pallets.
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The REC said that the sensitive materials would get to the local government secretariats and then to the Registration Area Centres (RACs) before nightfall.
“We have enough security personnel on ground to ensure minute-to-minute security of the sensitive materials.
We also have buses for the 17 council areas, where we have started sorting out the ballot papers and its accessories for onward movement,’’ he said.
Ononamadu noted that the sensitive materials would also be safeguarded by security personnel in the council areas and RAC centres as well as monitored by various party agents.
“We do not have history of sensitive materials hijack in Enugu State; however, we are not leaving any stone unturned in terms of security,’’ he assured.
On delays on the distribution of the materials since some council areas are far from Enugu, the REC noted that the sorting of the sensitive materials by council areas was being done fast and within an hour it would be over.
“The farthest council area, which is Uzo-Uwani, is not more than an hour and 30 minutes’ drive from Enugu here; so I believe that before nightfall, the materials will get to that council area and its RACs.
So, I am confident that the materials will get at very points on time,’’ he said.
Ononamadu, however, assured residents of Enugu State especially the electorate that all materials would be ready at the polling units before 8 a.m. (NAN)
