From Umar Dankano, Yola
The Adamawa State Independent Electoral Commission (ADSIEC) has commenced the distribution of sensitive and non-sensitive materials for Saturday’s local government elections across the state’s 21 local government areas.
Speaking while monitoring the exercise in Yola on Friday, the Commissioner in charge of Logistics and Field Operations, Emmanuel Anuhu Abba, assured residents that adequate preparations had been made to ensure a smooth and credible electoral process.
Abba disclosed that trucks conveying election materials had already departed for their respective destinations, with all 21 local government areas taking delivery ahead of the polls.
He explained that the commission had made special arrangements with security agencies to guarantee the successful conduct of the elections in Lamurde and Madagali local government areas, which have experienced security challenges.
According to him, necessary measures have been put in place to ensure the prompt commencement of voting. He noted that, in addition to the timely distribution of election materials, electoral officials had been directed to strictly adhere to the guidelines governing the exercise.
“We have instructed all our Resident Electoral Officers to ensure that election materials are at the polling units by 8 a.m. so that voting can commence as scheduled,” he said.
The commissioner also dismissed speculations that the logos of some political parties were omitted from the ballot papers, stressing that all 11 political parties cleared by the commission were duly captured.
He listed the participating parties to include the SDP, ADC, YPP, AAC, APC, PDP, APP, APM and the Labour Party, among others, and urged their supporters to disregard misinformation and turn out peacefully to cast their votes.
Abba reiterated the commission’s commitment to conducting a free, fair and transparent local government election and called on eligible voters to exercise their democratic rights peacefully.