The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has assured that the recent hike in petrol price will not affect the conduct of the Edo governorship election.
This was disclosed by the Chief Press Secretary to the INEC Chairman, Rotimi Oyekanmi , during a pre-election news conference in Abuja.
Oyekanmi stated that INEC is already engaging with officials of the National Union of Road Transport Workers, NURTW, to address the impact of the petrol price hike.
He emphasized that the commission is committed to ensuring a smooth electoral process despite the challenges posed by the price increase.
Regarding the participation of Persons Living with Disabilities, PWDs, in the election, Oyekanmi said INEC would continue to do its best to facilitate their voting experience.
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He acknowledged that the facilities used for polling units may not be purpose-built for PWDs but assured that electoral officers have been trained to offer necessary assistance.
Oyekanmi also addressed concerns about prefilled result sheets, stressing that measures have been put in place to prevent a recurrence of the issue witnessed in Kogi.
He further assured that results cannot be collated in any polling unit where an election is not held, ensuring the integrity of the electoral process.
Oyekanmi confirmed that there are no polling units with zero voters in Edo, adding that elections are expected to hold in all polling units across the state.
He said: “Well, first of all, I am aware that the commission, in the last couple of days, met with the officials of the NURTW to discuss this matter, and I’m sure the resolution was reached.
“Of course, when you are planning for election, you have what is called contingency, because you don’t know what can happen. There could be changes and all of that.
“So, we don’t expect transporters to operate at a loss. If oil has gone up, for instance, and they now want some increment, this could be discussed.
“Like I said, I wasn’t part of the meeting, but the meeting was held, and I’m sure some agreement was reached.
“We have to conduct that election. So, I don’t think that will cause some problems,” he said.
“Normally, our Presiding Officers are trained that when they see anybody on the wheelchair or anyone regarded as PWD, the person comes straight to the front of the queue, and Nigerians cooperate with us on that.
“For instance, the elderly people, people on wheelchairs, people with special needs, and physically pregnant people, not people who put something in their tummy, we give them that respect,” he said.
“I can assure you that the Commission took active steps to make sure it doesn’t happen again.
“In fact, our result sheets cannot be forged because they are custom-made. They have security features and nobody knows what those security features will be.
“So, INEC has been able to perfect that aspect, that if you go ahead and print result sheets, you have just wasted your time, because you will not have access to what we have and you will not be able to make use of it.
“Again, our resource management process takes care of errant behaviour like that,” Oyekanmi said.
“That’s not possible, because if an election is not held in a place, it has to be reported,” he said.
“All the polling units, over 4,500 of them will be used. So, there is no polling unit that will not have voters..
“However, if election does not take place because of one reason or the other, of course, the presiding officer has the duty to report that.”
