The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says 336 candidates will contest various political positions in Gombe in this year’s general election.

The resident electoral commissioner in Gombe, Umar Ibrahim, stated this on Wednesday at a stakeholders’ meeting on preparations for the general elections scheduled for February 25 and March 11.

Mr Ibrahim said of the 336 candidates, 14 would contest the governorship seat, 33 senatorial seats, 62 House of Representatives and 227 for the 24 seats in the Gombe House of Assembly and that the election would be contested in 2,988 polling units across the 114 registration areas in the state.

The INEC official added that the electoral body had implemented measures to ensure free, fair and credible elections, noting that 10 out of the 14 outlined activities had been carried out.

“The 11th activity, which is the publication of the official register of voters for the election, will be carried out on Thursday. The state has received a full complement of the Bimodal Voter Authentication System (BVAS) required for the conduct of the forthcoming general elections,” he revealed. “Other materials received include voting cubicles, ballot boxes, INEC bags and sleeping mats.”

Mr Ibrahim said there were 149,565 uncollected PVCs out of the 246,803 received from INEC headquarters in 2022.

“At the commencement of the continuous voter registration (CVR), Gombe State had a balance of 62,799 PVCs belonging to those who registered before 2019. Out of that number, 5,957 persons have so far collected their PVCs, leaving a balance of 56,842 to be collected,” he explained, stressing that Gombe received 246,803 PVCs in 2022, “belonging to those who registered newly during the CVR or requested transfer/update/replacement during the period.”

The INEC official mentioned that out of this number, 97,238 had collected their PVCs as of January 9, with 149,565 to be collected.

(NAN)