By PETER OKOLIE

Eleven candidates will contest in the Feb. 26 Ngor Okpalla Constituency bye-election in Imo.

The House of Assembly declared the seat vacant and called for bye-election, following the long absence of the occupant.

INEC’s Resident Electoral Commissioner in the state, Prof. Chukwuemeka Ezeonu, said 94,060 registered voters, the figure as at 2019, were expected to cast votes during the bye-election.

He said the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) would field candidates at the election alongside other parties.

Ezeonu said sensitive materials for the election stored at the CBN would be deployed on Thursday according to operational order.

All non-sensitive materials have been deployed to Ngor Okpalla Local Government Area and batched, ready for deployment.

“Polling starts at 8:30 a.m. and ends at 2:30 p.m.; accreditation of voters will be done using Bimodal Voter Accreditation System and only those accredited by BVAS will be allowed to vote.

“All polling unit election results will be published and displayed at the polling units,’’ he said.

He said the Situation Room would be opened to receive reports and complaints using through telephone numbers 07034489491, 081431494998, 07030986818, 08116432734 and 08068653743 for WhatsApp.

Ezeonu assured residents and registered voters in the area of adequate security, noting that the police and other security agencies had been adequately briefed about arrangements for the bye-election. (NAN)