INEC chairman, Prof Mahmoud YThree staff members of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) serving in Borno State have died in a ghastly road accident.
The employees, comprising an Electoral Officer (EO) and some Assistant Electoral Officers (AEOs), were reportedly travelling from some local councils to Maiduguri for a special training ahead of the conversion of voting points into polling units on Sunday.
Confirming the incident yesterday, National the Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee of INEC, Festus Okoye, stated that Adamu Mohammed (EO, Biu), Abubakar Joda and Suleiman Umar (AEOs, Damboa) lost their lives while five others sustained injuries.
According to Okoye, the injured staff members are receiving treatment at a specialist hospital in Maiduguri.
He said the deceased officials, who were indigenes of Adamawa State, would be buried today in Yola.
“The Supervising National Commissioner for Borno, Adamawa and Taraba states, AVM Ahmed Tijjani Mu’azu (rtd.), will represent the commission at their funeral, while the injured staff members are receiving treatment in a specialist hospital in Maiduguri.
“Last week, the commission commenced nationwide train-the-trainers workshop in Abuja involving heads of operations departments drawn from all the states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). The training is to be cascaded to the state level nationwide ahead of the fieldwork for the physical conversion of the VPs to PUs. The aim is to conclude the exercise ahead of the resumption of the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) on June 28, 2021,” he stated.
While noting that the three staff died in the course of national assignment, Okoye prayed for the repose of their souls, just as the INEC extended condolence to their families and wished the injured staff speedy recovery.
The Guardian
