INEC set for Enugu North by-election with 87% readiness

The Independent National Electoral Commission has announced that it is over 87 percent ready for the upcoming Enugu North Senatorial District by-election in Enugu State.

Dr Chukwuemeka Chukwu, the Resident Electoral Commissioner in Enugu State, shared this information in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Enugu on Wednesday.

INEC had set June 20 for the by-election. The commission published the notice and timetable for the election on May 21.

Chukwu mentioned that non-sensitive materials have been sorted and are ready to be sent to the commission's six local government area offices in the senatorial district.

"We are sending the non-sensitive materials today (June 3) to our council area offices involved and by Thursday (June 4), the non-sensitive materials will be further moved to INEC's Registration Area Centres (RACs)," he said.

He also noted that all Bimodal Voter Accreditation System devices have been fully set up and charged to ensure the by-election goes smoothly.

Chukwu added that INEC has wrapped up all important meetings with stakeholders at the state, senatorial, and six local government area levels.

He said the meetings saw a large turnout of stakeholders, with many asking important questions about the by-election, which INEC's top officials answered.

According to him, four political parties will field candidates for the by-election.

The REC explained that these parties had their primary elections monitored by INEC officials, and they submitted official reports to the commission's headquarters.

"I won’t mention the political parties yet because we are waiting for our headquarters' approval of the report on the parties' primaries conducted," he said.

Chukwu mentioned that the commission will train various officials for the by-election on Friday.

He also added that soon, the commission will meet with the police and other security agencies to ensure the safety of INEC officials, ad-hoc staff, sensitive and non-sensitive materials, and voters.