The Independence National Electoral Commission on Thursday distributed sensitive materials to the 18 Local Government Areas of Ondo State ahead of the November 16 governorship election in the state.

The state INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner, Oluwatoyin Babalola, monitored the exercise at the Akure branch of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

She said that the early distribution of the sensitive materials was to show that the commission was ready for the election.

The REC said that the sensitive materials were being distributed to ensure that no ward or polling unit was omitted.

She re-assured residents of the state, political parties and stakeholders of the commission’s readiness to conduct a transparent, free and fair election.

“We promise that the commission will be transparent in the conduct of the election. You can see that the distribution exercise is going on smoothly. The farthest local governments have started moving to their locations. All the other local governments have received their materials; they are checking and loading the vehicles. I’m sure that in another one and a half hours, we should be out of it. You can see the logistics we are distributing today and the vehicles are already moving.

“Ilaje has left, Ese-Odo has left, and Okitipupa and Irele are loading. They will soon leave. Then we move to the next set, Akoko North-East, North-West, Akoko South-West, South-East, Owo and Ose; they have collected all their materials and they will leave any moment from now.

“Then Odigbo, Ondo-East, Ondo-West, Ifedore, and Axis are leaving. We are on course. We are moving. The movement is not local government by local government. We are doing simultaneous movement,” she said.

The REC explained the difficult terrain on water; Ilaje and Ese-Odo had been identified in those areas and there were boats that would transport both men and materials.

“We also have the support of the navy. They are giving us gunboats to secure the movement. For the land where we have difficult terrain, we will move out to the place where vehicles can reach and we will continue the rest with suitable means of transportation,” she said.

Ms Babalola also appealed to political parties and their supporters to eschew violence on election day and after election.

The Chairman of the state All Progressives Congress, Ade Adetimehin, and the state Chairman of Inter-Party Advisory Council,  Adesanya Olaoluwa, commended INEC for its transparency in the exercise.

The duo said the parties were ready to cooperate with the commission.

The representatives of the political parties participating in the election and security agencies, including the police, NSCDC, FRSC, Immigration, Customs and SSS, were at the venue of the exercise. 

(NAN)