Lucky Obukohwo Reporting
Seven political parties are to jostle for the 18 chairmanship positions and 192 councillors in Saturday’s local government polls that will take place in 4519 polling units across the state.
Chairman of the Edo State Independent Electoral Commission, Justice James Oyomire (rtd), who stated this on Wednesday in Benin, said that arrangement has been finalised to ensure the deployment or movement of electoral materials to the polling units.
He stated that there are 18 registered parties in the country but only 11 invited EDSIEC to capture their primaries and forms were given to them with only seven parties submitting forms before deadline.
Parties that will participate in the election, according to the chairman, are;
Accord Party, African Action Congress, Africa Democratic Congress, Allied Peoples Movement, All Progressives Congress, Labour Party and Peoples Democratic Party.
He stated that the commission embarked on a tour of the local government area to interact and sensitize the people and other relevant stakeholders who are key to the success of the election.
He said, “Seven political parties who submitted their forms will take part in this election. The election will take place in 4519 polling units in 192 wards in the state.
“18 local government chairmen and 192 councillors seats will be contested for across the state.
“In order to ensure adequate security, before, during and after the election, the commission engaged relevant security agencies in the state, while we interacted with the electorate and other stakeholders to ensure the success of the exercise.
“The commission is ready. Adequate training has been given to election officers and personnel, while logistic arrangement are in place for the deployment of election materials to polling units,” Oyomire said.