By MUFTAU OGUNYEMI

Chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, has promised improved logistics and result management during the Nov. 16 governorship election in Ondo State.

Yakubu stated this during an assessment tour of the INEC office in Ondo State on the preparation for the governorship election, on Monday in Akure.

“The commission has received positive reports from our state office in Akure but we decided to come for a readiness assessment.

“We have learnt a lot of lessons, not only from the last election but also, from previous elections.

“Basically, there are two challenges; the first one is logistics for election, so that polling units can open promptly on the election day.

“The second is result management, and my assurance to voters in Ondo State is that they are going to see fast improvement in these two processes,” he said.

Yakubu said that he was in the state to meet with the stakeholders, including political parties, civil society organisations, the media, security agencies and the commission’s staff members to assess their readiness.

“One of the activities we are also going to observe is the mock accreditation of voters which will take place in 16 polling units across six local government areas in the three senatorial zones of the state.

“We are also going to meet with the stakeholders on Thursday, and the following day, the National Peace Committee will invite all the stakeholders to sign the National Peace Accord,” Yakubu said.

The INEC chairman, who inaugurated the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) storage facility, said it would replace the containers used for storage of the smart card readers burnt in 2020. (NAN)