KADSIECOM shifts date of Council polls a second time

Kaduna State Independent Electoral Commission (KADSIECOM) has shifted the date of conduct of Council polls in the state, from Aug. 14 to Sept. 4.

Mrs Saratu Dikko-Audu, Chairman of the Commission, announced the shift on Monday during an interactive session with stakeholders, held at the headquarters of the Commission in Kaduna.

Dikko-Audu, who apologised to the electorate over the postponement, said the measure was necessitated by the late arrival of electronic voting machine batteries.

She explained that this was the second shift in the date of the polls, the first being from June 5th, to Aug. 14.

“We had earlier informed you that we had to postpone the election that had been slated for 5th June 2021, to 14th August 2021, because our machine batteries were still being expected,” he said.

She however explained that although the batteries had arrived a day ago, the 12 days remaining to conduct the election, was inadequate, adding that the Commission needed to install the batteries in 6000 units of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs).

“We also need to install the software, upgrade the machines, test them, train our ad-hoc staff (about 16,500) on the operation of the new system, then conduct voter education ,” she explained.

Dikko-Audu noted that the Commission was aware that political parties, their candidates, and the public, were anxious to exercise their civic duty, assuring that the new date would be sustained.

NAN reports that the meeting had in attendance, representatives of security agencies, political parties and civil society groups.