The INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner in Delta State, Mr. Monday Udoh, said the commission has confirmed receipt of sensitive electoral materials and result sheets for the elections and that the materials were ready for distribution to the 25 local government areas of the state.
Mr. Udoh stated this at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) branch in Asaba, Delta State capital, venue of the distribution exercise.
Representatives of political parties, security agencies, election observers and the media witnessed the process, according to reports.
Udoh noted the materials were brought in in the early hours of the morning and were received in the presence of the leadership of political parties and relevant stakeholders in the state.
He said the sensitive electoral materials and the result sheets would be distributed beginning with the difficult-to-reach local governments in the riverine areas and down to the state capital in time for election day.
“IPAC chairman in company with other chairmen have sighted it. We are going to start with far-flung local government areas like Burutu, Bomadi, Patani,” the REC said.
“We have cross-checked our checklist and they are complete,” he said.
Meanwhile, the state chairman of the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC), Emeka Bidokwu, who doubles as the state chairman of the Action Alliance, expressed satisfaction with the level of synergy between the electoral umpire and representatives of political parties during the election material distribution exercise.
“This thing we are doing is a synergy between political parties and INEC, so we are going to make sure it works,” he said.
A domestic observer from the National Institute of Strategic Studies, Brig. General Chukwuemeka Udenya Rtd., who witnessed the proceedings, made observations on the distribution exercise.
He noted, “The process has been ongoing since morning. It has been very peaceful, it has been quiet. You can see the party representatives are all here and everything peaceful so far.”
The materials were inspected by the various stakeholders after they were evacuated from the CBN strongroom before they were handed over to the electoral officers for onward distribution to the various local government areas in the state.
