The Delta State Stake Holders Forum, a Non Government Organization focused on advocacy and clamour for free and fair elections paid a courtesy visit to the newly appointed Delta state Resident electoral commissioner, Dr Cyril Omoregbe on Monday, 4th February 2019.
The delegation during the visit includes; The Chairman of the Group Pastor Anene Okafor,He is also the CAN chairman Oshimili South LGA Delta State, The coordinator, Activist Toju Binitie who is also the chairman of the Advocacy For Peace And Sustainable Development, Delta State chapter, also in attendance is Comrade Samson Ayiba of Delta State Ministry of Environment and other dignitaries.
The Chairman, Pastor Okafor during his presentation congratulated the REC for his new office and thanked him for accepting their request for the visit while pledging their full support throughout his stay in the state.
He Commended the INEC for the assurance given by the National chairman of the INEC to deliver a free and fair election.
He also extolled the critical role of the election umpire as she is saddled with responsibility of masterminding the process that produces governments in Nigeria.
Pastor Okafor also stated that the purpose of the visit is to welcome him to the state and to seek a partnership with INEC.
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The group is seeking official mandate to deploy election observers to the polling units within the 270 wards of Delta State during the February 2019 elections which is just few weeks away.
According to him, a significant number of the constituent organizations that merged under the umbrella of Delta State Stakeholders Forum have been accredited by INEC to cover the elections as Observers.
In his remarks during the interactive session, The Delta REC Dr Omoregbe heartily welcomed his guests.
He further clarified some subjects and gave quite a few valuable suggestions towards how the group can successfully achieve her goals.
Answering Questions from the delegates, He decalered that the Delta INEC is fully ready for the elections in the state, revealing that the percentage of PVC collection in Delta state is at impressive 95%.
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Concerning the collation of results, He stated that the INEC will follow the law, which allows for manual collation at present.
When questioned on the provisions made for the situation where the polling unit is far from the electorate and the electorate will need transit to get to the polling unit.Dr Omoregbe assured the group that INEC will work on that.
While commending the group for the excellent initiative, he explained that election observers are normally selected and approved at the Abuja Headquarters.
He suggested that they may however prioritize their monitoring to areas of flash-points.
The Nigeria elections will begin on 16th February 2019
By Afam Ichenku for ifeknows.com
