The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Thursday distributed sensitive election materials to its 30 local government offices in Osun ahead of the state governorship election on Saturday, July 16.

The distribution of the materials at INEC office in Osogbo, was witnessed by agents of political parties, journalists and election observers.

Speaking to newsmen, Professor Abdul-Ganiyu Raji, INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in the state, said the sensitive materials were taken to INEC local government offices under heavy security.

“We took delivery of the sensitive materials at midnight of Wednesday, and it has been with us for about 36 hours. The party agents have seen the materials.

“These materials have been under very heavy security since the day we brought them and we also invited the party agents to witness the arrival, including the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) chairman,” Mr Raji said.

He said five national commissioners and 12 supporting RECs were in the state already for the election and that each had been assigned the local government they would supervise.

Mr Raji said some of the sensitive materials, like the Bi-modal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), had been loaded into vehicles that would take them to their local government destinations.

“Earlier today, we loaded the BVAS into the vehicles. The ballot papers will now be loaded and each local government vehicle will now move out and we expect that in the next two to three hours, they will reach their destinations,” he said.

He said the materials (ballot papers and result registers) were customised according to the local governments and according to the polling units.

He told journalists to check election result sheets for his signature, saying result sheets without his signature would not be considered authentic.

(NAN)