By Lateef Ibrahim, Abuja
The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, disclosed on Tuesday that names of 137,973 polling and collation agents for the governorship elections in Bayelsa, Kogi and Imo States were uploaded on its dedicated portal by political parties contesting in the elections at the close of deadline.
The breakdown showed that 34,704 agents were uploaded for Bayelsa State, 65,274 for Imo State and 37,995 for Kogi State.
This was contained in two separate publications made available to journalists in Abuja via a statement signed by INEC National Commissioner and Chairman Information and Voter Education Committee, Mr Sam Olumekun.
The publications equally revealed that
sixteen political parties are sponsoring candidates for the election in Bayelsa State and 18 in both Imo and Kogi States.
The elections, according to the publications, will be held in 10,470 polling units (excluding the 40 polling units without registered voters).
Each political party, the commission added, is expected to nominate polling agents for all the polling units as well as 649 Ward, 56 LGA and three State collation centres.
Titled publication of Information booklet and list of pollung unit and collation agents for Bayelsa, Imo and Kogi State Governorship elections, the statement reads, “In continuation of the Commission’s preparations for the three off-cycle Governorship elections in Bayelsa, Imo and Kogi States, the Commission is making available two publications on the forthcoming polls as follows:
“This publication contains infographic summary of registered voters and Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) collected by Local Government Areas (LGAs) as well as the distribution of registered voters by gender, age group, occupation and disability.
“The publication also includes the list of candidates and detailed information on the two polling units in Bayelsa and 38 in Imo State without registered voters. “The Commission has repeatedly said that elections will not hold in these polling units. No materials have been produced for these locations and no officials will be deployed to them”, it said.
The publication on the list of Polling and Collation Agents, reads, “Sixteen political parties are sponsoring candidates for the election in Bayelsa State and 18 in both Imo and Kogi States.
“The elections will be held in 10,470 polling units (excluding the 40 polling units without registered voters).
“Each political party is expected to nominate polling agents for all the polling units as well as 649 Ward, 56 LGA and three State collation centres.
“However, at the close of the deadline for uploading the list of agents to the INEC dedicated portal by political parties, 34,704 agents were uploaded for Bayelsa State, 65,274 for Imo State and 37,995 for Kogi State, making a total of 137,973 polling and collation agents for the three States.
“However, the detailed breakdown shows that not all the parties nominated agents for the polling and collation centres across the States.
“Indeed, some political parties have no polling unit or collation agents in some States despite having candidates in the election.
“The information booklet as well as the comprehensive summary of the agents and their distribution by polling units as well the Ward, LGA and State collation centres have been uploaded to our website and social media platforms for public information”, it concluded.
Never miss a moment! Get the stories shaping Nigeria, delivered straight to your phone. Follow Peoplesdaily Newspaper on WhatsApp for breaking news, exclusive reports, and the headlines everyone will be talking about, before anyone else.
