Gombe LG election: Votes will count this time, GOSIEC chairman assures

Gombe State Independent Electoral Commission (GOSIEC) has assured the people of the state that they will experience a complete departure from the past as every vote will now be counted during the election.

Chairman of GOSIEC, Alhaji Saidu Shehu Awak, gave the assurance, on Wednesday, during a stakeholder meeting preparatory to the conduct of the election calling on them to abide by the rules of the election.

The chairman was reacting to questions from Journalists shortly after he declared opened a series of training workshops for different stakeholders preparatory to the December 19 Local Government elections in the State.

The training, expected to hold for Journalists, Civil Society Organisations, People Living with Disabilities, women groups among others was organized by the European Centre for Electoral Support (ECES) in conjunction with GOSIEC.

According to Shehu Awak, “this is a million Naira question because past practice differs, present practice differs. We have no desire to make it impossible for our constituents to come out and vote.”

Asked about delivering election materials during the election, the Chairman said that the Commission will not fail in delivering election materials adding, “that is our job. So, we cannot deal with speculation, I’ll leave you to judge on that day”.

Earlier in his opening remarks, the Chairman said that the Commission deliberately sought the ECES for the training to help improve on the electoral process.

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He also thanked them for availing their services, which he said the Commission is committed to ensuring that what will be learned will be for the benefit of Gombe State.

In his goodwill message, Deputy Project Coordinator, European Centre for Electoral Process (ECES), Manji Wilson,
said that the Centre is partnering with the Commission through sequenced training to support the Commission’s efforts in delivering it’s the mandate of conducting elections that will guarantee willful and broad base participation, inclusivity while projecting transparency and integrity of the process.

He also said: “This training with the Gombe SIEC is the first time ECES is piloting a sequenced training for SIECs specifically customised to cover key thematic issues of electoral administration, conflict management, media and communications and bringing together election managers at the State level with important stakeholders including the media, marginalised groups (PWD), women groups and CSO’s to foster synergy and promote election integrity in the conduct of the LG elections.”

The first training workshop involved members of the GOSIEC as well as it’s staff while the second day will involve Journalists.

NIGERIAN TRIBUNE

Gombe LG election: Votes will count this time, GOSIEC chairman assures