Borno LG elections: BOSIEC chairman assures level playing ground for all parties 

AHMED MARI, Maiduguri

The Borno State Independent Electoral Commission (BOSIEC), has assured a level playing ground for  all political parties in the Saturday local government elections, saying that it will be  “free, fair and credible.”

Addressing journalists on the level of preparation of the commission at the BOSIEC headquarters, Maiduguri on Friday, the chairman of BOSIEC, Alhaji Lawan Mahmoud urged all political parties and their candidates to eschew violence and play the game according to the rule.

“We assure all political parties of a free and fair election and also urge them to eschew violence, as the state has had its fair share of Boko Haram insurgency and we need to go back to these years of no violence”, Mahmoud added.

The BOSIEC chairman said, “The election for the people of Guzamala will be conducted in the camp in Gajiram, those from Abadam would have theirs in Damasak, while some village of Marte local, Konduga and Kala Balge would have their election in camps in Monguno, Maiduguri and Ngala respectively.”

He said “Many candidates are contesting for 27 LGA chairmanship positions and 312 councillorship positions but only one person each will win the position. So he called on them and their supporters to consider the interest of the state first, not to engage in political violence during and after the election.”

Alhaji Mahmoud said “We are prepared for tomorrow’s election, already we have distributed non-sensitive material and sensitive materials to the far local governments, while the nearer local governments will get their own early in the morning. The election is going take place at the 27 local government areas, 312 wards and 5,071 polling units.

“We have also engaged 4 ad-hoc staff for each of the 5,  071 unit, ward returning officers, as well as local government returning officers for the 27 LGAs and security operatives, will also be deployed to the various polling units”, the BOSIEC chairman added.

He therefore called on the electorate and the youths in particular to conduct themselves peacefully.