Taraba fixes date for local government elections

• The 16 local government councils in the state have been run by the Head of Local Government Administration (HOLGA), appointed by Governor Agbu Kefas on assumption of office
• Electoral commission liaise with INEC in terms of getting production of the electoral materials needed for the success of the polls

The Taraba State Independent Electoral Commission in a statement on Tuesday announced that the local government election in the state will be held on 18 November.

The statement also requested political parties to submit names of their candidates at the commission’s headquarters in Jalingo.

Political parties have until 7 November to indicate interest in participating in the election and to submit names of candidates, according to the notice signed by the Chairman of the Commission, Philip Duwe.

The 16 local government councils in the state have been run by the Head of Local Government Administration (HOLGA), appointed by Governor Agbu Kefas on assumption of office.

Mr Duwe disclosed that the commission has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to ease the processes of the election.

He said the Commission deemed it necessary to liaise with INEC in terms of getting production of the electoral materials needed for the success of the polls.

“We are ready for the election but not absolutely ready, we must seek authority from INEC to get the materials they produce”, he said

Mr Duwe said that TSIEC wants to complement the vision of Mr Kefas, who is desirous of a local government system that is efficient and constitutional.

“The governor does not believe in Caretaker or Sole Administrator management which are not in the Constitution.”

Mr Duwe, who said information was key, added that journalists are critical stakeholders hence the need to involve them in the course of what TSIEC is doing.

Mr Duwe further disclosed that the commission has met with 18 registered political parties in the state where they agreed on a date for the conduct of the election.

“The leadership of Intra Party Advisory Council (IPAC) would be supervising the Political Parties on the entire processes, we have also issued a Time Table to guide them”,

On the electoral umpire’s assurance that votes of the electorates count, Mr Duwe said election results would be declared at the polling units, then to the ward collation centres before heading to the local government collation centres.

He also revealed that about 2,000,000 registered voters would be participating in the polls, adding that the Commission has done an assessment based on the number of registered voters per senatorial district.

“There are 168 electoral wards with about 3,650 polling units across the 16 local government areas of the state”,

The SIEC boss, however, revealed that the commission wants to customise the ballot papers by senatorial district and if possible by local government to solve the problems of results and ballot papers’ diversion from one zone to the other.