Sensitive election materials, including ballot papers and Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) devices, have arrived in Osogbo ahead of Saturday’s governorship election in Osun State.
The materials are being kept under tight security ahead of their distribution to local government offices and Registration Area Centres across the state.
The Chief Press Secretary to the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Adedayo Oketola, disclosed this while providing an update on the commission’s preparations for the August 15 poll.
Oketola said the materials had been secured at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) before their planned movement to other locations.
“Right now, sensitive materials are already in Osun. Nobody will tell you when materials arrived in Osun. What is most important is that they have arrived. You see, logistics is complex,” he stated.
He explained that INEC was deliberately withholding details about the timing and movement of the materials to prevent possible security breaches.
“If we tell the public, I will tell you where and when they will be moved. Don’t you know they can be ambushed? So, what is most important is that those things are already in Osun,” Oketola said.
He also disclosed that the commission would recruit its ad-hoc personnel from a pool of more than 30,000 National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members for the election.
“For the number of ad-hoc staff, INEC will be pulling from a pool of over 30,000 NYSC members that we’re working with for the election,” he said.
Oketola put the number of registered voters in Osun at 2,339,233, but said the commission was yet to determine the latest number of voters who had collected their Permanent Voter Cards following the extension of the PVC collection exercise.
Meanwhile, security agencies have deployed 25,310 personnel across the state to ensure a peaceful conduct of the election.
The deployment comprises 15,000 personnel from the Nigeria Police Force, 10,210 officers of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and about 100 personnel from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The NSCDC Commandant-General, Prof. Abubakar Audi, also ordered the deployment of personnel from 10 neighbouring state commands to reinforce security operations across Osun’s 30 local government areas.
The corps said specialised units would be deployed for intelligence gathering, crime prevention, protection of critical infrastructure and crowd control during the election.
Audi charged the personnel to remain professional and neutral while respecting citizens’ rights during the exercise.
“You have the responsibility of ensuring unbiased synergy with other security agencies on election duty to actualise a free, fair and credible election.
“Our personnel have been properly briefed on the need to be professional, neutral and respectful in the discharge of their duties,” he said.
The NSCDC warned political thugs and others planning to disrupt the election that they would be prosecuted.
“The NSCDC in collaboration with other security agencies on election duty will not tolerate any activity intended to jeopardise the election process; criminal-minded persons and political thugs willing to disrupt the peaceful conduct of the election would face the wrath of the law as prescribed in the Electoral Act,” Audi said.
The Nigeria Police Force had earlier announced the deployment of 15,000 personnel for the election, while the EFCC said about 100 officers would be deployed to tackle vote-buying and other forms of electoral inducement.
Also, armed military personnel have taken over security duties at the Osun State headquarters of INEC in Osogbo as part of heightened security measures ahead of Saturday’s poll.
The increased security presence comes as INEC and security agencies intensify preparations for the election, with authorities assuring that election materials, personnel and critical facilities will be protected throughout the process.
