Yakubu, who reiterated the commission’s readiness to conduct free and fair election, reassured Nigerians that it is not in the hands of the commission to determine who becomes the next governor of the state, rather, people’s votes would be the determinant.
The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof Mahmood Yakubu, has said that the commission has deployed four national commissioners and eight resident electoral commissioners for the election.
Yakubu, who reiterated the commission’s readiness to conduct free and fair election, reassured Nigerians that it is not in the hands of the commission to determine who becomes the next governor of the state, rather, people’s votes would be the determinant.
According to him, 76 percent of the 988,923 registered voters in the state had collected their Permanent Voter Cards (PVC) as of Monday, but those who had not collected their PVCs (totalling about 200,000) only have Thursday to do so.
“Let me assure political parties and voters that the task of electing a new governor will be left in the hands of voters.
“We won’t take any action to the advantage or disadvantage of any particular party or candidate. We are going to do everything according to the 1999 Constitution and provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022,” Yakubu said.
Meanwhile, the Inspector-General of Police, Usman Baba, assured residents and all stakeholders that the Nigerian security agencies had made necessary arrangements to ensure adequate security during and after the governorship election in Ekiti State on Saturday.
The IGP, who gave the assurance on Tuesday explained that different security agencies, including the military, the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, amongst others had deployed personnel for the election.
Baba emphasised that the deployed personnel were not to intimidate or molest law-abiding citizens, but to ensure a hitch-free, transparent and peaceful election.
He said that the 177 wards and 2,445 polling units would be manned by appropriate manpower, adding that, “Those who want to constitute clog in the wheel of progress will face the consequences of their actions. National security should be of priority and uppermost in our minds. Let us conduct this election in the most civil manner.”