In the upcoming re-run and by-elections set to hold in 26 states of the Federation on Saturday, the Independent National Electoral Commission revealed that with new PVC holders and already existing voters, over 4,613,291 are expected to turn out for the polling exercise.
Chief Press Secretary to the INEC Chairman, Rotimi Oyekanmi made it known through a statement issued on Wednesday. Professor Yakubu Mahmood disclosed via the statement when he led a delegation to the Headquarters of the Nigerian Air Force in Abuja on Monday to request the NAF’s assistance to deliver election materials to three locations in the North-East, South-East and South-West where the election will be taken place.
He said: “The elections will fill vacancies in three Senatorial Districts, 17 Federal and 28 State Constituencies spread across 80 Local Government Areas, 575 Registration Areas/Wards and 8,934 Polling Units involving 4,904,627 registered voters, out of which 4,613,291 Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) have been collected.”
While reiterating that the INEC cannot handle such assignment alone, he said, “that is why we seek to mobilize every national asset, including NAF.
“It is in realisation of this objective that the law empowers the Commission to seek the support of the security, intelligence, and law enforcement agencies in the delivery of materials and the protection of election officials as clearly provided for in Section 27(3) of the Electoral Act 2022. The elections are holding this weekend. Working with the Central Bank of Nigeria, materials are being delivered to many locations. However, given the size and distance of some constituencies, we seek for the support of NAF to expeditiously deliver materials to three locations in the Northeast, Southeast and the Southwest geo-political zones of the country. We have already indicated to the Chief of the Air Staff the specific locations and the tonnage of materials to be airlifted.”