Yakubu, who spoke at the 2nd meeting of the Interagency Consultative Committee on Election Security, ICCES hailed the impact of adequate security in the last governorship elections in both states.
The success, Yakubu attributed to the early planning made by the security agencies.
He therefore urged members of the ICCES to come up with their plans ahead of the forthcoming elections.
He said, “It is important to start security preparations very early. In particular, the number of personnel and other assets to be deployed to strategic locations should be determined and mobilised early enough.
“It was this proactive approach that led to the successful conduct of the last Governorship election in Edo State on 19th September 2020 and in Ondo State on 10th October 2020.
“There were no security incidents, materials were delivered promptly, logistics deployed smoothly, Polling Units opened on time, voters attended to efficiently and results collated and announced transparently.
“Let us replicate the successful conduct of the last Governorship elections in Edo and Ondo States.
“In fact, working together, we should ensure that the 2024 Governorship elections in Edo and Ondo States are an improvement on the success story of 2020.”
He therefore said that in the “next few months, there will be further engagements with the security agencies and other members of ICCES at both national and State levels. “We look forward to your plans to secure the environment without which INEC cannot successfully conduct elections.”
On the imporatnce of the meeting, Yakubu said was to acquaint member of ICCES with the delimitation details to enable early preparations for security deployment.
He added, “Both Edo and Ondo States have 18 Local Government Areas each. At the moment, Edo has 2,501,081 registered voters, 192 Registration Areas/Wards and 4,519 Polling Units while Ondo State has 1,991,344 registered voters, 203 Registration Areas/Wards and 3,933 Polling Units.
“However, the terrain differs in the two States. While there are a few riverine locations in Edo State, two Local Government Areas in Ondo State (Ese Odo and Ilaje) are predominantly riverine.”
Speaking on Edo State, Yakubu said 12 out of the 18 Political PParties that conducted their primaries monitored by the Commission y have since commenced the uploading of the list and personal particulars of their candidates on INEC web portal.
The deadline is 6pm on Sunday 24th March 2024 when the portal automatically shuts down.
He also said Political Parties will commence for Ondo state, starting with the primaries in the next two weeks.
He noted that at the moment only 17 out of 19 Parties have indicated interest in participating in the election.
Yakubu also used the opportunity to condole members of the military for the recent gruesome murder of 17 of their officers and personnel on mission in Delta State.
Yakubu who strongly condemned the dastardly act, said “We are confident that the ongoing investigation will lead to the speedy arrest and prosecution of the perpetrators of the heinous crime.”
