INEC Begins Distribution Of Sensitive Materials For Osun Poll

INEC has begun moving sensitive election materials to Osun State’s 30 local government areas ahead of Saturday’s governorship election.

The distribution started on Thursday night at the Central Bank of Nigeria premises in Osogbo, under the supervision of the Osun Resident Electoral Commissioner, Oluwatoyin Babalola.

The exercise had been delayed after a Federal High Court order directed INEC to include the Social Democratic Party on the ballot. The commission later added the SDP to the list of 14 political parties for which ballot papers had already been printed.

By about 11:30 p.m., buses deployed for the exercise were leaving the CBN premises for their assigned local government areas, according to the reports.

Umar Mohammed of Kimpat Development Initiative, an election-monitoring civil society group, said the arrival of the materials was encouraging after earlier concern that the court ruling could affect the timetable.

He said INEC still had to sort and distribute the materials across the state after printing additional ballot papers and result sheets to comply with the court order.

The movement of materials is one of the last major logistics steps before voting in a poll already shaped by court rulings, security deployments and sharp political tension.

Sources: Punch, Premium Times