Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Logo (PHOTO CREDIT: ICIR)

#OndoDecides2024: INEC deploys 4,002 BVAS machines, places 812 on reserve

INEC said it has also trained and briefed 30,000 security agencies on its mode of operation as part of efforts to ensure there is no hitch in the conduct of the election

by · Premium Times

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said it is deploying 4,002 Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines for Saturday’s governorship elections in Ondo State.

The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) for Ondo State, Oluwatoyin Babalola, disclosed this to journalists on Friday in Akure.

She said the commission has also deployed additional 812 BVAS machines as reserve in case any of the deployed machines developed faults.

“We are ready. We have created enough voter awareness through the multiple channels we deployed for the exercise,” she said.

“We have engaged, recruited our ad-hoc staff, SPOs, presiding Officers and Assistant Presiding officers.”

Mrs Babalola said the commission has also trained and briefed security agencies on its mode of operation as part of efforts to ensure there’s no hitch in the conduct of the election.

She said over 30,000 security personnel have been trained and deployed for the election.

“The security agencies have given us assurance. We trained them on the need to be professional and the need to be committed to the job they engage in.

“We also taught them our process. You know, when you don’t know someone else’s process, some things you think are not right, some things you think are wrong. So we have trained them and they have cascaded this training to their commands,” she said.

Early Deployment of materials

Mrs Babalola also noted that the commission is activating the Registration Area Centres (RACs) earlier than usual to ensure early deployment of voting materials to the polling units.

She assured electorates that voting materials would be deployed to the voting points on time.

“As I speak with you now, most vehicles are on their way to the RAC because we are going to activate RACs very early. We don’t want to activate RACs in the night so that they would have settled in and they’ll be ready for the election tomorrow.

“Our people are on the field now and we are just awaiting feedback for them to arrive at their various destinations,” the commissioner said.