Sensitive materials for Saturday’s Osun State governorship election have arrived at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) facility in Osogbo ahead of distribution to the state’s 30 local government areas.
The materials were transported from Abuja in trucks and were being offloaded at the CBN facility as preparations intensified for the August 15 election.
Distribution was initially scheduled to commence at 8am on Thursday. However, by about 9:50pm, the materials were still being offloaded.
The delay followed reports that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had reprinted ballot papers after the late inclusion of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) candidate in the final list of contestants.
The development increased the number of governorship candidates from 14 to 15 and reportedly affected the original timetable for distributing the sensitive materials.
Once the offloading is completed, the materials are expected to be distributed to the 30 LGAs before being moved to various polling units ahead of voting.
The sensitive materials include ballot papers, result sheets and other documents required for the conduct and collation of election results.
Their arrival comes less than 48 hours before voters across Osun State are expected to elect the next governor.