The Katsina State Independent Electoral Commission (KTSIEC) has commenced the distribution of sensitive election materials across the 34 local government areas of the state in preparation for Saturday’s local government elections.
During a press briefing on Thursday, the commission’s chairman, Lawal Alhassan, assured that all necessary measures had been put in place to ensure the smooth conduct of the polls. He emphasized that security agencies were actively involved in securing the transportation of election materials to their respective destinations.
“I wish to let this all-important gathering know that adequate arrangements were made by the commission and other security agencies to transport these materials to their respective destinations intact and safely,” Alhassan stated.
He noted that priority had been given to remote local government areas to prevent any delays on election day. “The commission had this time planned to make the distribution of the sensitive election materials early in order to enable the timely distribution to all the designated centres across the 34 local government areas, 361 political wards, and 6,652 polling units in the state,” he added.
Alhassan further disclosed that more than 20,000 ad-hoc staff had been recruited and trained to oversee the electoral process. Additionally, he confirmed that non-sensitive election materials had already been distributed the previous week.
Reiterating the commission’s commitment to a seamless electoral process, he assured voters that election materials would arrive at polling centres on time.
“On behalf of the commission, I call on the electorate to be rest assured that this time around, there will be no issue of late arrival of sensitive election materials to all the polling centres,” he said.
To enhance transparency and address concerns, the commission has also set up dedicated mobile telephone lines for voters to report genuine complaints on election day.