The distribution of sensitive materials for Saturday’s Osun State governorship election has been delayed following the arrival and offloading of the materials at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) facility in Osogbo.
The materials, transported from Abuja in trucks, arrived at the CBN facility ahead of their distribution to the state’s 30 local government areas.
Although distribution was initially scheduled to commence at 8am on Thursday, the materials were still being offloaded as of about 9:50pm.
The delay is reportedly linked to the need by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to reprint ballot papers following the late inclusion of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) candidate in the final list of contestants.
The development increased the number of governorship candidates from 14 to 15, necessitating adjustments to the ballot papers and affecting the initial timetable for the movement of sensitive materials.
Election officials are expected to complete the offloading before commencing distribution to the 30 LGAs. From the LGAs, the materials will subsequently be moved to designated polling units ahead of Saturday’s voting.
The sensitive materials include ballot papers, result sheets and other documents required for voting, collation and declaration of results.
With the election less than 48 hours away, the movement of the materials remains a key part of preparations for the poll, as INEC races to complete logistics ahead of the opening of polling units across Osun State.
