The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says all is now set for Saturday’s by-election in Dekina-Okura constituency of Kogi.
The INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) for Kogi, Mr Oliver Agundu, stated this in an interview with NAN in Lokoja on Tuesday.
The by-election is sequel to the death of a former Deputy Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Hon. Enema Paul, on Dec.14, 2024 after a protracted illness.
Agundu, who spoke through INEC’s Education Officer, Mr Haruna Haliru, said that the commission had held a meeting of Inter Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES).
The meeting, he said, was aimed at mapping out plans to secure both the personnel and the materials during and after the election.
“All non-sensitive materials have been deployed to the local government and we are only waiting for the arrival of the sensitive materials on Wednesday or Thursday.
“We have concluded the training of our supervisory presiding officers (SPOs) who are mainly INEC staff in readiness for the election,” he said.
Agundu stated training had also been done for presiding officers (POs) and assistant presiding officers (APOs) in Anyigba between Aug. 8 and Aug. 10.
According to him, only five candidates from five political parties are contesting for the election.
The REC listed the parties to include: Accord, African Democratic Congress (ADC), All Progressives Congress (APC), Allied Peoples Movement (APM) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
He assured all stakeholders in the constituency of a free, fair, transparent and credible election.
Agundu called on all registered voters in the constituency to come out en masse, conduct themselves in an orderly manner and vote for candidates of their choice.