The Imo State resident electoral commissioner INEC, Dr. Gabriel Adah said that it would adopt several measures to ensure better performance during the Saturday’sApril 11th, 2015 governorship and state house of assembly elections in the state.
Addressing newsmen in his Owerri office yesterday, the REC said that the steps were taken following a review of their performance during the March 28th presidential and national assembly elections held in the state.
Adah said: “after reviewing our performance during the last election, we have made some adjustment in the preparation to make them perform better in the April 11thelection”.
He enumerated some of the measures to be adopted to include making sure that only PVC is used for the election as well as making sure that smart cards reader are strictly used for accreditation and verification of the voters.
The REC pointed out that during the last election smart card readers was used but midway into the election, were advised to go for manual for authentication process for voters because of lapses.
He insisted that there would be no room for manual verification again during the April 11th election, adding that wherever the card readers fails to work, election in that unit would be postponed for next day.
The INEC boss who stressed the commission’s full readiness for the Saturday’selection, maintained that all results generated at each polling units in the election must be announced and pasted at the unit.
He advised all stakeholders, members of political parties, the electorate and agencies to come out and exercise their civic rights during the Saturday election.
Reacting on the complaints of late arrival of election materials during the last election, Adah blamed the huge disappointment inflicted on the commission on the transport companies that were engaged by the commission.
He assured that in order not to in incur similar disappointment in the Saturdayelection, the commission had engaged the Federal Road Safety Commission to assist the commission to ensure prompt movement of election materials to their various unit and areas for the election.
He explained that a total of 394 candidates of both governorship and house of assembly would be contesting for the Saturday election, warning any privates security agency outside the approved members of Inter Agency Committee of Election Security to stay away from the election period.
