Ninety-seven percent of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) poll staff arrived polling units in Osun state by 8:30 a.m.
This was disclosed by the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) in a statement on Sunday by its analyst at Election Analysis Centre (EAC), Dr Ayomola Oluranti.
Dr Oluranti said Abuja in centre has deployed 300 trained and accredited observers to collect data on key aspects of voting and related processes.
She said the data also showed that 79 per cent of INEC poll officers addressed voters before the 8:30 a.m. the official time for poll opening.
She said the data also indicated that there were critical election materials in at least 92 per cent of polling units.
The statement said, “These are ballot papers, Biometric Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) devices, result sheets, ballot boxes and voter register. They were available for the conduct of the election – a marked improvement over 83 per cent recorded in Ekiti.
“CDD-EAC notes that INEC took some steps to address some of the gaps identified in the Ekiti State Governorship Election last month.
“INEC has embedded officials of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) in the INEC situation room in Osogbo to help address issues around deployment of personnel and movement of voting materials,” she said.
Dr Oluranti, however, said CDD-EAC observers reported cases of political party agents campaigning and canvassing for votes near polling unit in 14 local government areas, which represented 9.6 per cent of the polling units observed.
She said that the acts, which contravened the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022, were mostly reported by observers in Ife Central, Odo Otin, Osogbo, Oriade and Irepodun.
