Ahead of the Edo and Ondo State governorship elections, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has urged the security agencies to start security preparations very early.
The electoral body noted that number of personnel and other assets to be deployed to strategic locations should be determined and mobilised early enough for both elections.
It added that it was this proactive approach that led to the successful conduct of the last governorship election in Edo State on 19th September 2020 and in Ondo State on 10th October 2020.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, made the call on Friday in Abuja at a meeting of the Inter-agency Consultative Committee On Election Security (ICCES).
The Chairman said both Edo and Ondo States have 18 Local Government Areas each.
He said at the moment, Edo has 2,501,081 registered voters, 192 Registration Areas/Wards and 4,519 Polling Units; while Ondo State has 1,991,344 registered voters, 203 Registration Areas/Wards and 3,933 Polling Units.
Yakubu noted that however, the terrain differs in the two States, saying while there are a few riverine locations in Edo State, two Local Government Areas in Ondo State (Ese Odo and Ilaje) are predominantly riverine.
He said for Ondo State, political parties would commence their primaries in the next two weeks, adding that 17 out of 19 parties have indicated interest in participating in the election.
Yakubu stated: “It is important to start security preparations very early. In particular, the number of personnel and other assets to be deployed to strategic locations should be determined and mobilised early enough.
“It was this proactive approach that led to the successful conduct of the last Governorship election in Edo State on 19th September 2020 and in Ondo State on 10th October 2020.
“There were no security incidents, materials were delivered promptly, logistics deployed smoothly, Polling Units opened on time, voters attended to efficiently and results collated and announced transparently.
“Let us replicate the successful conduct of the last Governorship elections in Edo and Ondo States. In fact, working together, we should ensure that the 2024 Governorship elections in Edo and Ondo States are an improvement on the success story of 2020.”