With just 29 days remaining until the Ondo State Governorship election, the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has reiterated that elections in Nigeria are now a continuous process, not confined to a specific season.
He made this statement on Thursday during the Fourth Regular Consultative Meeting with political parties at the INEC Conference Room in Abuja.
“I have repeatedly said that there is no election season in Nigeria any longer,” the INEC Chairman emphasized.
Providing an update on the Commission’s preparations for the November 16 governorship election in Ondo State, the INEC boss disclosed that the Commission presented the voters’ register to political parties in Akure two days ago.
“With this development, we have successfully completed 10 out of the 13 activities outlined in the Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the election,” he said.
He noted that the remaining activities include the publication of the Notice of Poll, the last day of campaigns, and Election Day itself.
“Although we have already published the Timetable, we have included copies in your folders for guidance,” he added.
The INEC Chairman also confirmed that the Commission had shared a summary of polling and collation agents with political parties for the Ondo election.
“We are pleased to report that all political parties fielding candidates are fully compliant with the requirements for uploading agents to our portal.
We are working to ensure that identification tags for the 24,148 agents are ready in time.”
He further announced that the collection of Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) from the recent Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise began in Ondo State on Thursday.
“For the next five days, from October 17 to 21, 2024, PVCs will be available for collection at each of the 203 wards in the state,” he explained.
After this period, the cards will be available for collection at INEC offices in the 18 Local Government Areas of the state from October 23 to 29, 2024.
Collection centers will operate daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
“A document with the names and locations of the 221 collection centers has been uploaded to our website for public information, and hard copies are included in your folders,” the INEC Chairman added.
He appealed to political parties to assist the Commission in encouraging registered voters to collect their PVCs.
“To facilitate the process, we have uploaded the register containing the names and photographs of new voters, including fresh registrants, those who transferred, and individuals requesting replacements for lost or damaged PVCs, to our website.”
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