INEC to use 202 RACs for early deployment in Osun poll

By Deborah Oladejo, Osogbo –

As preparations for the August 15 Osun State governorship election gather momentum, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it will use 202 Registration Area Centres (RACs) to facilitate the early deployment of election personnel and materials on polling day.

The commission said the centres, comprising 97 Super Registration Area Centres and 105 Registration Area Centres, would be used to camp Supervisory Presiding Officers (SPOs), Presiding Officers (POs) and Assistant Presiding Officers (APOs) ahead of the election.

The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Osun State, Mrs. Oluwatoyin Babalola, disclosed this on Wednesday during a press briefing in Osogbo on the commission’s level of preparedness for the governorship election.

“A total of 97 Super RACs and 105 RACs will be used to camp SPOs, POs and APOs for the election to ensure the early deployment of personnel and materials on election day. All these centres also require adequate security,” Babalola said.

She said the commission had identified all sensitive and non-sensitive materials required for the election, adding that 80 per cent of the non-sensitive materials had been received, deployed to local government areas and batched into Registration Areas and Polling Units, while sensitive materials would be delivered during election week.

“All sensitive and non-sensitive materials required for the election have been identified. Eighty per cent of the non-sensitive materials required for the election have been received, deployed to LGAs, and batched into Registration Areas and Polling Units. INEC Osun State Office is collaborating closely with relevant security agencies to ensure their safe storage,” she said.

Babalola said 3,763 Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) devices would be deployed across all polling units, with an additional 664 devices reserved as backups. She added that the devices would be used for voter accreditation and the upload of polling unit results to the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal to enhance transparency.

The REC reaffirmed the commission’s commitment to conducting a free, fair, credible, transparent and inclusive governorship election, noting that preparations, including the recruitment and training of ad hoc staff, voter education and collaboration with security agencies, were progressing in line with the election timetable.