14th February, 2019
Mr Abubakar Sadiq, the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Sokoto state, says no fewer than 1, 726, 887 eligible voters are expected to vote in 2019 general elections in the state.
Sadiq disclosed this at a stakeholders meeting on Thursday in Sokoto, preparatory to election dates.
He said 1, 892, 378 Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) were received from INEC headquarters out of which 1, 726, 887 were distributed while 155, 958 PVCs remained unclaimed in the state.
According to him, the unclaimed PVCs will be handed over to Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for safe keeping.
He assured that INEC was determine to ensure free, transparent and fair elections and urged the people to continue to pray for the successful conduct of the exercise.
The REC said that all non and less sensitive materials had been received and being distributed to respective local government areas of the state.
“Except the Card Reader which is still in our custody along with other sensitive materials that require strict measures and physical identification by observers,” he said.
He also said that all vehicles conveying materials to designated destinations were tracked with modern gadgets and monitored against diversion.
Sadiq said INEC had trained and recruited 17,000 ad hoc staff, mostly NYSC members and students of higher institutions to serve during the exercise.
“We require only 16,000 adhoc staff but had to train 17,000 against any eventuality.
“States have no hand in engaging Collation Officers because they were recruited from Headquarters, however, went through the rigorous training and screening,” he said.
The REC said special arrangements had been made to take care of physically challenged to enable them exercise their franchise without hitch
He urged politicians to ensure hitch-free exercise by allowing a peaceful atmosphere.
The Police Commissioner in the state, Mr Ibrahim Ka’ oje, also assured that adequate security measures had been designed across all polling stations to ensure peaceful elections.
Ka’oje stressed that police would not condone lawlessness of any kind, saying that police personnel were equal to the task without fear or favour.
“Those who think they can violate the laws, we are ready to take them up while we exhibit professionalism and civil conduct in respecting the rights of the public and potential voters,” Ka’oje said.
Contributing, Mr Philip Enaberue, the Sokoto State Coordinator of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) reaffirmed the continued commitment of the scheme to encourage corps members to exhibit good conduct at all times.
“We always educate them to remain neutral in the discharge of their responsibilities,’’ he said.
The state coordinator said the corps members had so far recorded tremendous achievements on election duties, a development he noted earned them recognition from different institutions.
He called on NYSC members to sustain the tempo.
Representatives of all security agencies, political parties, CSOs, NGOs and other relevant bodies in the state attended the event.