The Independent National Electoral Commission has begun distributing sensitive election materials ahead of the Rivers South-East Senatorial District bye-election scheduled for Saturday, with 858,573 registered voters expected to cast their ballots.
Account to The Punch, the poll is being held to fill the vacant Senate seat left by the late Senator Barry Mpigi, who represented the district until his death in February at a hospital in London.
On Thursday, ballot papers, result sheets and other sensitive materials were inspected at the Central Bank of Nigeria’s zonal headquarters in Port Harcourt by representatives of political parties participating in the election before being dispatched to designated centres.
Officials of the Action Alliance, All Progressives Congress, Labour Party and Peoples Democratic Party monitored the exercise, which formed part of measures aimed at ensuring transparency in the electoral process.
Addressing stakeholders during the inspection, the Resident Electoral Commissioner in Rivers State, Johnson Sinikiem, said party representatives were given the opportunity to verify the materials to strengthen trust in the conduct of the election.
“We have come to inspect and distribute the ballot papers and the result sheets that we are going to use for the Saturday, June 20, 2026, senatorial bye-election in Rivers State.
“As you can see, the materials are intact and have not been tampered with. Party agents are free to inspect them, and once there are no objections, they will be distributed to the local governments and RAC centres,” he said.
Sinikiem stated that 858,573 registered voters across 1,629 polling units would be eligible to participate in the bye-election.
He added that following the inspection, the materials would be transported to the affected local government areas and Registration Area Centres in preparation for Saturday’s exercise.
The bye-election will take place across the seven local government areas that constitute the Rivers South-East Senatorial District — Khana, Gokana, Tai, Eleme, Andoni, Opobo/Nkoro and Oyigbo.
