CBN fails to confirm INEC’s return of sensitive materials

LAGOS office of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) could not confirm taking custody of sensitive electoral materials for Lagos State which the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said it had returned to the apex bank on Sunday.

Lagos office of the electoral umpire had stated on Sunday that it had returned sensitive electoral materials such ballot papers, electoral result sheets, and others to the custody of the apex bank.

INEC public relations officer, Femi Akinbiyi, was said to have told journalists that the electoral materials were moved on Sunday to the CBN for safe keeping.

But efforts to get the CBN to confirm taking custody of the materials did not yield any positive result as the CBN corporate communications department neither picked repeated calls nor return text messages sent to the Lagos office.

Early morning on Monday, there was an unusual movement of big trucks usually used by the bank to convey highly important items as electoral materials.

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A usually reliable source at the CBN office disclosed that more than five of such trucks were seen as early as 9 am moving into the CBN premises on Customs Street.

It was gathered that the street was barricaded to forestall free flow of movement with the increased presence of security personnel around the street.

As at 3 pm on Monday, a significant presence of the armed security operatives around the street was still noticeable.

In a similar development, the Ogun State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Prof Abdul Ganiyu Raji, said all sensitive electoral materials in the state had been returned to the state office of the CBN in Abeokuta, the state capital.

“We have taken everything to the CBN office at Abeokuta. We are awaiting the D-Day of the election,” said Ganiyu Raji.