Rose Ejembi, Makurdi
The Benue State Independent Electoral Commission (BESIEC) has slated the Local Government Council elections in the state for November 30.
BESIEC Chairman Tersoo Loko, who disclosed this to reporters in a telephone chat on Sunday, said the Commission was also planning to visit all political parties in the state in order to restore confidence in them as well as the electorate.
Loko posited that following the mistrust that had trailed previous elections, the Commission would be holding a stakeholders’ meeting to discuss important issues as they affect the forthcoming elections.
“It’s on that premise that we have decided to hold a stakeholders’ meeting tomorrow (Monday) so that all the political parties will come together to enable us discuss and crave their indulgence to get integrated in the entire process.
“And after the stakeholders’ meeting the commission plans to engage in a tour of offices of all political parties in the state as part of confidence-building efforts.
“The meeting is aimed at restoring confidence in the populace and looking at the modalities to integrate all the political parties, security agencies and other relevant stakeholders to ensure they come together to achieve free and fair local government polls in the state and also ensure them of a level playing field,” Loko stated.