INEC to convey ballot papers to Southern Borno in helicopters – REC

The Independent Electoral Commission said it planned to convey ballot papers to the southern parts of Borno State and other areas with difficult terrain with helicopters.

Samuel Madaki, the Resident Electoral Commissioner in the state, made the disclosure on Friday in Maiduguri while briefing newsmen.

Madaki said the measure was to ensure timely arrival of the materials to the affected areas.

He explained that the initial ballot papers printed for the governorship election in the state were cancelled after officials of the commission discovered that the logo of Labour Party was omitted.

He said: “We discovered that the logo of Labour party was absent on the ballot papers printed for the polls, so we made arrangement for new ones from Abuja.

“Since the election is just some few hours from now, we decided to fly the consignment of the new ballot papers for Southern Borno directly from Abuja instead of routing them through them Maiduguri for efficiency.”

The REC said the commission had traced the cause of the rejection of voters finger print  during the March 28 polls to the Screen Guard on card reader machines.

Madaki said: “We have realised that the rejection was largely caused by non removal of the screen guards on the machine.

“We are hoping that the governorship/House of Assembly polls will be faster and hitch free going by the discovery.”

Madaki assured the people of the state that the commission had made adequate arrangements to ensure successful conduct of the polls.