Train-bus accident: 66 patients out of hospital – Health Commissioner

“On Friday, March, 17; the same sensitive materials will be moved from the local government area offices to the various Registration Area Centres (RAC) in the presence of security personnel, political party agents, and the media.

“At the RAC, the sensitive materials and other non-sensitive materials will be sorted out and ready for upward movement to the 4,145 polling units across the state on or before 8 a.m. on Saturday; since voting will start 8:30 a.m. on the dot on March 18,” he said.

Chukwu noted that the commission had completed the reconfiguring of 4,145 Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines, meant for the March 18 polls, a day ago.

In Lagos, INEC took delivery of the sensitive materials (ballot papers and results sheets) from the CBN.

The exercise, led by the INEC REC for Lagos State, Mr Olusegun Agbaje, and the Commissioner of Police in Lagos State, CP Idowu Owohunwa, was monitored by various stakeholders.

INEC Electoral Officers from the 20 local government areas were on the ground to distribute the materials to their respective LGA offices in the state.

Speaking to newsmen, Agbaje, who noted that INEC was ready to conduct free, fair, and credible elections on Saturday, called for the cooperation and support of stakeholders.

According to him, the sensitive materials are secured and intact for every stakeholder to see the transparency of the commission.

He noted that the onward distribution of the materials from the councils to the 245 wards of the state would begin on Thursday.

He said INEC wanted to ensure that materials got to Registration Area Centres and Polling Units on time on Friday and Saturday mornings respectively.

“We are here again as March 18 approaches for the governorship and house of assembly elections In Lagos State, an election will be conducted in 40 constituencies on Saturday.

In Ondo State yesterday distributed sensitive materials to all its offices in the 18 Local Government areas in the state.

The distribution commenced amid tight security at the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, in the presence of political party representatives, journalists, and security agents to all local government offices of the commission

The sensitive materials include ballot papers, and result sheets, among others.

Ondo State will be having only the House of Assembly election on March 18 and 13 political parties will be participating in the election.

Inspecting the materials, the state acting REC, Mr Oyekola Oyelami, expressed the readiness of the commission to conduct a free and fair poll in the state.

Oyelami who assured that all the Bimodal Voter Accreditation Systems (BVAS) have been configured and working perfectly said none of the BVAS was mistakenly taken to the wrong polling unit in the last national elections conducted on February 25.

According to him, “Every polling unit has a code stapled on each BVAS before being taken to each unit.”

While assuring that the last achievements recorded in the last elections will surpass the coming poll in the state, Oyelami assured the early arrival of voting materials to each polling unit on Election Day.

He advised the electorate to come out en-masse to vote for the candidate of their choice, just as he noted that the election involves those that will be representing them at the State House of Assembly and make law. Speaking with journalists, the State Chairman of the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC), Mr.Olaoluwa Adesanya, expressed satisfaction with the inspection of materials.

He called on INEC to repeat the same feat recorded at the last poll in making voting materials available to polling units before the commencement of the election.

Amid tight security, INEC disbursed sensitive materials to Electoral Officers of the 20 local government areas in Bauchi State.

Briefing journalists on the development at the office of the commission in Bauchi, the REC, Mohammed Nura, said, “As you can see from the background, we evacuated our sensitive materials from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to the state office for distribution to the 20 local government areas headed by our Electoral Officers.”

According to him, “The process is ongoing. Each local government area is going to have its share of the materials. As you can see, the buses are around and the security personnel to escort them are all on the ground.

“When we went to the CBN to evacuate the materials, two commissioners of police were there, the DSS, political parties, and all other security agencies in the state were also on the ground.

“Today is Thursday and the materials are being taken to the local government areas, and tomorrow, the materials can reach appropriate polling units on time for the election to commence in earnest on Saturday.”
He disclosed that the election would not hold in six polling units in Bauchi State because there were no voters registered to vote at the centres.

In Oyo, the distribution of the sensitive materials was done at the premises of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Ibadan branch, located in Dugbe.

The process, supervised by the REC in the state, Dr Adeniran Tella, was witnessed by representatives of different political parties, security agents, and other stakeholders.

Tella, while speaking, explained that the commission had built on the success recorded during the last presidential and National Assembly elections.

He added that INEC is ready to conduct free, fair, and acceptable elections in the state.

“It is a tradition that we normally move our materials, particularly, the sensitive materials to the local governments, from the local governments to the RAC centres [and] to the polling units,” he said.

Tella added, “We have 33 local governments and we have watched and distributed our materials down, most especially the ballot papers that are meant for the governorship and State Assembly elections and this has been properly and systematically outlined so that there won’t be a mix-up.”

•Polls: NBC sanctions 25 stations, issues final warning to 16 others

The National Broadcasting Commission has cautioned broadcast stations to adhere strictly to its broadcast code, the Electoral Act as well as other extant laws governing the coverage and reportage of the 2023 general polls.

The Director General of NBC, Balarabe Ilelah, issued the warning yesterday during a press conference in Abuja ahead of the March 18 governorship and state assembly elections

The conference had representatives of some media organisations in attendance.

Stressing the need for broadcast stations to be professional in the discharge of their duties, Ilelah disclosed that 25 stations were sanctioned by NBC in the course of monitoring the 2023 presidential election, while 16 stations have been given a final warning.

The NBC boss revealed that one station was sanctioned for broadcasting the results of the election before the Independent National Electoral Commission announced the results which contravene section 5.33 of the NBC code.

He said 17 stations were sanctioned for broadcasting partisan party content after the prescribed 24-hour stoppage time by NBC, while four stations have been sanctioned for divisive comments.