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From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
The chairman Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, has issued a marching order to the Electoral Officers in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) ahead of the Area Council elections slated for February 12.
Speaking when he led other members of his management team on a working visit to its FCT office, he urged them not to lower standard in ensuring that the elections were free, fair and credible.
Yakubu maintained that since INEC has been able to establish a reputation in conducting credible elections, the forthcoming Council elections should not be an exception.
“Already INEC has set the standard for the conduct of elections in the country and we will not allow the FCT to dampen that record. The Commission has enough manpower to conduct a credible election and we all know that all eyes will be on us because the FCT is the only place in the country where the Commission directly conducts elections and we must ensure we get it right,” he said.
He further revealed that there are 468 candidates contesting for 68 positions in the Area Council.
Earlier in his welcome address, the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in the FCT, Yahaya Bello said all Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) printed in the Territory ahead of the forthcoming Area Council Elections taking place next month are ready for collection in the territory.
Bello also explained that the Nationwide voter registration exercise was suspended in the FCT to enable the Commission to print and distribute PVCs for those already captured ahead of the exercise.
He further revealed that so far a total of 103,068 cards have been collected while another 265,866 cards were yet to be collected as at close of work on Tuesday.
The REC also gave an analysis of the CVR saying; “a total number of 21, 508 males and 21, 478 females were captured.
