From :Femi Oyelola, Kaduna
The Youth Initiative for Advocacy, Growth and Advancement (YIAGA) Africa has applauded the Kaduna State Electoral Commission (KADSIECOM) for its efforts towards conducting credible elections.
The Programme Manager, YIAGA Africa, Paul James, made the commendation during a courtesy visit to the Commission in Kaduna, yesterday.
According to him, the visit was given to the upcoming local government election in Kaduna State, which was necessary in understanding the dynamics of local elections in Kaduna State to develop a tool that can be used in subsequent elections in the country.
“We are working with other partners and supporters around strengthening electoral bodies to conduct credible local elections in Kaduna, Lagos, and Akwa Ibom states.
“This is important to us because the LG election has been bedeviling with a lot of issues like executive interference, citizen apathy, and so on.
“So we want to understand the dynamics of local elections in Kaduna State to develop a tool that can be used in subsequent elections in the country,” he said.
In response to this, the Chairman of the Commission, Hajiya Hajara Mohammed, who played host to YIAGA Africa, appreciated the concern for the success of the LG elections
She disclosed that the commission would not be able to deploy electronic voting machines in the upcoming local government election scheduled to be held on Saturday, October 19, 2024.
She explained that the Commission’s resolve to go for manual voting was due to timing, adding that due to the recently added polling units, the Commission required procurement and configuration of about 3,500 additional electronic voting machines which will take about nine months.
“We have additional newly created polling units in Kaduna State, which require about 3,500 customized electronic voting machines, and that will take at least nine months to procure and configure.
“As a Commission, we have the mandate to conduct elections regularly. So, we don’t want to create any vacuum because the tenure of the current local government chairmen expires on October 30.
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