INEC Ready for Ekiti Governorship Election This Saturday

Officials from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) are confident about their preparations for the Ekiti governorship election on Saturday. They assured voters and observers that everything is going smoothly.

The officials made these remarks during a pre-election visit with Yiaga Africa in local government areas like Ikere, Ise-Orun, Oye, and Emure.

Bunmi Omosehindemi, the Ekiti State INEC Commissioner, also checked on the Ikere council as part of the monitoring effort.

Officials in Ikere, Ise-Orun, and Emure confirmed that both sensitive and non-sensitive election materials have been sent to their areas.

The visits aimed to check how ready the areas are and to see the status of election logistics before the polls.

In Ikere Local Government Area, the Electoral Officer, Susan Ibikunle, stated that preparations were going well. "We don’t have any challenges. If it rains, we have raincoats; we have distributed them to our polling officers and assistant polling officers. We have 125 polling units. The vehicles are ready to convey our staff. We’ve prepared them for what they will do on Saturday," she said.

Ibikunle also mentioned that 11 buses are available for the registered areas in the council, and they have not faced any problems.

Omobolanle Gbadebo in Emure and Noah Aninkan in Ise-Orun echoed similar sentiments. They said the commission has finished sending out election materials and is set for Saturday’s vote.

The electoral officers reported that preparations have moved along without major issues and expressed hope that the election will go smoothly.

Their statements come as election observers and stakeholders ramp up their monitoring across the state before the governorship election.

PREMIUM TIMES noted a significant security presence in the three local government areas. Police officers were stationed at key points, and checkpoints were set up along main roads.

This deployment is part of efforts by security agencies to protect election materials, personnel, and voters during the election. Despite the heavy security, the atmosphere in the areas visited remained calm and orderly.

In Oye local government area, officials were busy sorting and sending out ballot boxes, voting materials, generators, ad hoc staff, and security personnel to various registration areas and polling units.

PREMIUM TIMES saw that the movement of materials started early, with officials and security personnel working together to ensure every ward got its supplies without delays.

Ad hoc staff were assigned to various registration area centres, where they are expected to stay overnight before heading to polling units on election day.

Each batch of materials was escorted by security personnel as they were transported to different towns and villages in the local government.

According to INEC’s deployment plan, Oye Local Government Area includes 12 registration areas, 191 polling units, and nine registration area centres.

This area also has 71,603 registered voters, making it one of the important voting spots in the state.

The local government collation centre will be at the INEC office in Oye, where results from polling units will be gathered after voting.

Across the state, INEC data shows that Ekiti State has 177 registration areas, 2,445 polling units, 106 registration area centres, and 1,059,360 registered voters spread over its 16 local government areas.

With the deployment finished on Friday, officials will wrap up final arrangements before polls open on Saturday morning.