At least N1 billion has been budgeted for the local government election scheduled for June 26, the Jigawa State Independent Electoral Commission (JISIEC).
This was disclosed by the JISIEC chairman, Adamu Ibrahim in an interview with newsmen at the weekend. He, however, failed to give a breakdown of the electoral budget.
Ibrahim added that the State may not be able to use card readers during the election, as there isn’t time to train the electoral officials on the usage of smart card readers.
Honestly, we are not prepared to use the card reader now. It is an electronic system and the person who is supposed to use it has to be trained and time is against us,” Ibrahim said.
The JISIEC chairman said the Commission’s priority is to organise free and fair elections without disenfranchising any eligible voter, irrespective of whether card readers are used or not during the elections.
He assured residents that the election will be conducted in all the 27 LGAs, adding that all political parties will be given equal treatment throughout the voting process.
He explained that the Commission also had 11,357 ad-hoc staff that will be involved in the election, and announced that the sale of nomination forms for the office of the chairmen and councillors will commence on May 24.
