Ahead of the off-cycle elections scheduled for November 11, 2023, in Kogi state, there have been unverified narratives circulating over the logistics plans of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). These controversies include rumours circulating on social media with speculations that election materials will not be deployed to some polling units with the intent to scuttle the electoral process in those areas.
Part of such rumour is a viral broadcast message retrieved from WhatsApp, with the narrative that there are plans to disrupt the election in Kogi East by starving the area of election materials.
The broadcast message on Whatsapp shows the “forwarded many times” feature which means that it had been widely circulated on the instant messaging platform.
To address the rumours making the rounds on social media, the CDD War Room contacted an INEC official in Kogi state, Haliru Haruna, who explained the logistics plans of the Commission for the November 11 governorship poll in the state.
Haruna debunked the viral speculations that the Commission will be deploying election materials to the wrong polling units, describing them as falsehoods targeted at distorting facts about the efforts of the umpire towards ensuring a credible electoral process.
Further explaining the stages involved in deploying the sensitive election materials to the polling units where they will be used for the voting exercise, he said the ballot papers and the results sheets will first be taken to the Central Bank of Nigeria once they are brought into the state.
“Anytime we are going to the Central Bank for the sensitive materials, we are going with the security and agents of the political parties. So, we cannot do anything there without the security and political party agents.”
While noting that the sensitive materials were yet to arrive Lokoja, the state’s capital, he revealed that they would be received by Wednesday, November 8, 2023.
“When they arrive, they are going to the CBN and from CBN, INEC management, the electoral officers of the local governments, all security agencies and all agents of the political parties, will go to CBN together with the media.”
Haruna explained that the sensitive materials will be deployed from the CBN to the local governments, with the support of the security agents. He added that the personnel can not open the materials without the political party agents being present.
From the local governments, the sensitive materials will be moved to the Registration Area Centres (RACs), accompanied by the security escorts, before they are deployed to the polling units.
“There is no point that the people or any INEC staff will move sensitive materials without party agents,” Haruna reiterated.
When asked when the polling units will be set up across the local governments, he explained that “INEC personnel will set up the polling units by 7:30 am” while the voting exercise starts by 8:30 am and ends by 2:30 pm.