The Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room, on Saturday, June 4, held a Dialogue Session with the Ekiti State Independent National Electoral Commission Resident Electoral Commissioner (INEC REC), Dr. Tella Adeniran Rahmon, with support from the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), to discuss INEC’s preparedness for the Ekiti State Governorship Election scheduled for Saturday, 18th June 2022.
Situation Room Convener, Ene Obi, in her opening remarks highlighted the importance of discussing INEC’s preparations with respect to skilled manpower, training, efficiency and deployment, noting that the Ekiti State election will be the second State election where the Bimodal Voter’s Accreditation System (BVAS) will be deployed. She also emphasised that Ekiti State has had a sturdy history of election violence made prominent since the 2009 supplementary election in the State, where several voters were attacked, and an INEC LGA office burnt down by political thugs.
Dr. Tella Adeniran Rahmon, gave an update of INEC’s preparations stating that the number of Polling Units in Ekiti State were increased from 2,194 to 2,455, with the number of registered voters at 988,923 and the number of PVCs collected (as at 27th May) at 734,746. He also stated that 3,346 BVAS machines will be deployed for the election, with additional machines to serve as back up. He added that ad hoc staff and National Youth Service Corp members have undergone five weeks training on the use of election materials and conduct of election, and that women, youth groups, persons with disabilities (PWDs) and other vulnerable groups have been educated on the electoral process with the collaboration of civil society organisations.