The Yobe State Independent Electoral Commission ( YSIEC) has slated June 6 for the conduct of local government po in the state.

YBSIEC Acting Chairman and Permanent Member 1, Mohammed Nguru, made the announcement at a news conference in Damaturu on Wednesday.

He said Governor Mala Buni approved the election, which would bring in new chairmen, deputy chairmen and councillors across the 17 local government councils of the state.

According to him, the cost of a nomination form for chairmanship election is N300,000, while those of vice chairmanship and councillorship will go for N250,000 and N200,000, respectively.

Mr Nguru said that all citizens of the state origin were eligible to contest in the elections after attaining the ages of 25 for councillorship elections and 30 for chairmanship and vice chairmanship elections.

The official, however, said that a contestant must be sane, not bankrupt, a resident of local community, undergo security screening and possess a minimum of school leaving certificate or its equivalent.

He said that the commission would provide election guidelines to political parties to enable them to present suitable candidate of repute and substance for good governance at the grassroots.

Mr Nguru said that the commission was ready to organise and supervise  free, fair and credible elections.

He called for the support of security agencies, especially to identify flash points, where there could be threats to the smooth conduct of the exercise.

The YBSIEC acting chairman also solicited the support of the media for coverage of the election,  educating members of the public on the need to shun violence, vote buying and other acts capable of undermining the integrity of the election. 

(NAN)