Imo State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC ), Prof. Francis Ezeonu, has debunked allegation by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP ) that illegal thumb – printing was going on at unknown locations in the state .
Ezeonu denied the allegation yesterday through a statement signed by the administrative secretary of the commission , Thomas Ongele, in Owerri .
He described the publication published in a national daily (not The Guardian) as untrue, assuring the public that all the materials were intact in the various Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC ) offices in the 27 councils of the state .
According to the REC , after the announcement postponing the elections on February 16, the sensitive materials , which had been distributed from the premises of the Owerri branch of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN ), were subsequently retrieved and later sorted in the presence of the political parties ’ agents , including those of the PDP .
Wondering the root of the allegation, he stressed that there had not been any report of thumb -printing either from any staff of the commission or the security agencies .
The statement read in part : “ The commission wishes to reassure the general public that all materials meant for the forthcoming election are intact and have been deployed to the councils where the accredited party agents will observe the distribution to RAs and polling units . The commission is committed to the conduct of free , fair and credible elections in Imo .
“ The materials were transparently counted, checked , confirmed and distributed to all councils in Imo .
“ After postponement on the early hours of Saturday, February 16, all the sensitive materials, including ballot papers, were promptly retrieved and returned to the CBN for safe keeping .”
