A total of 38 chairmanship candidates, including two university professors, will contest in Saturday’s local government election in Borno State.
The election is being organised by the Borno State Independent Electoral Commission (BOSIEC).
Residents of Borno State will, for the first time in 13 years, elect officials for the 27 local government councils in the state.
Since the officials elected in April 2012, when the state held its last local government elections, completed their tenure, the councils have been run by caretaker committees appointed by the state governors.
The Executive Chairman of BOSIEC, Abdu Usman, informed journalists during a press conference at the commission’s office in Maiduguri, that various parties in the contest had fielded 38 candidates for the chairmanship and 316 wards councilors for the election.
Officials of the All Progressives Congress (APC) had confirmed to PREMIUM TIMES that two of the candidates fielded by the ruling party for the election are professors.
The state governor, Babagana Zulum, is also a professor of irrigation engineering.
“The coming of His Excellency Professor Babagana Zulum has raised the bar in the nomination and selection of candidates for elective offices in Borno state. Now we have two professors also contesting for the chairmanship seat in Gwoza and Damboa local government areas of Borno State,” said Makinta Zarami, the publicity secretary of the APC in Borno State.
The BOSIEC executive chairman also disclosed that 18 of the 27 local councils had unopposed candidates, fielded by the APC. This implies that the electoral commission will only be conducting actual elections in 11 council areas.
Mr Usman said elections will be held in four Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps in four local government areas comprising Abadam, Marte, Kukawa and Guzamala local government areas.
He added that the election will commence at 8 a.m. in all of the 5,012 polling units in Borno State.
“The voting will end at 2 p.m. in all the polling units,” he said.
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