Like every conscientious Nigerian, Yakubu said the Commission is deeply worried about the use of money to induce voters on election day.
He said, “Clearly, vote buying is a threat to our electoral democracy. To discourage the practice, we changed the configuration of our polling units to bring the ballot boxes closer to the voting cubicles and also banned the use of mobile phones and photographic devices by voters while in the voting cubicles.
“We have also intensified our collaboration with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) to deal with both the buyers and the takers under the law. I urge all stakeholders to join the commission in tackling the menace.”
Yakubu said the election is historic being the first Governorship election that the Commission will be conducted based on the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022 which came into force about four months ago on 25th February 2022.
He said INEC had held several meetings with political parties and their candidates.
“We had several engagements with the security agencies at national, state and local government levels. We consulted with stakeholders.
” We sought for, and received, the blessings of Royal Fathers and religious leaders. We have recruited, trained and carefully screened all categories of ad-hoc staff to be deployed to the field. We have delivered all non-sensitive materials for the election.”
He said voter education and sensitisation are ongoing in the state.
“We have made arrangements for the transportation of personnel and materials to all polling units on Election Day. For a more effective supervision of the process, we have deployed four National Commissioners, eight Resident Electoral Commissioners and many senior officials to support our State office here in Ekiti State to deliver credible elections.
” Voter registration was carried out all over the State, including the devolution of the exercise to the 177 Wards across the State. We have printed and delivered the Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) for all valid registrants in Ekiti State and collection of the cards by voters is ongoing.”
He said he was happy to note that many citizens have already collected their cards. Of the 988,923 registered voters in Ekiti State, 749,065 (or 76 per cent) have collected their cards as at yesterday Monday 13th June 2022.
He, however, said in the last few days, the Commission had received several inquiries from citizens who are yet to collect their PVCs and were demanding to know when the collection of cards would be suspended before the election.
“In response to these inquiries, I wish to announce that the collection of PVCs will continue in all our 16 Local Government Area Offices until Thursday 16th June 2022 to allow us one day (i.e. Friday 17th June 2022) for movement to the Registration Area Centres. I appeal to all registered voters that are yet to collect the PVCs to seize the opportunity to do so.
“To underscore our commitment to an inclusive, credible and transparent electoral process, the Commission is deploying a number of assistive devices for Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) to have a more pleasant voting experience on Election Day.