Election Officials and their Responsibilities

The Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) is responsible for the conduct of elections in his Local Government Area (LGA) of assignment.

He is the Head of the commissions office in the Local Government Area and takes directives from the Headquarters in the performance of his duties

The Supervisory Presiding Officer shall supervise the conduct of elections in a cluster of polling stations that make up an electoral ward and shall liaise with the Chief Electoral Officer of the Local Government Area, Presiding Officers of those polling units, Returning Officer and Poll Clerks under his supervision on all matters affecting the elections especially in the collection, distribution and retrieval of electoral materials.

• Assist in the training of Presiding Officers, Poll Clerks and Poll Orderlies
• Collect all election materials required for polling stations under his supervision from the Chief Electoral Officer and ensure that they are available in the right quantities and at the right time
• Regularly visit the polling stations under his supervision to deal with any problem during the elections
• Ensure that the results of the poll for the assigned polling stations are submitted to the Ward Returning Officer for collation
• Ensure that all election materials returned by the Presiding Officers are submitted to the Chief Electoral Officer of the Local Government Area immediately after the elections.
• Liaise with Security Agents to ensure that law and order is maintained within the polling stations under his supervision.
• Be accountable to the Chief Electoral Officer of the Local Government Area.

The Presiding Officer has complete control of the polling station

• Setting up the polling station
• Taking proper custody of ballot boxes, ballot papers and all other materials for the poll in his assigned polling station
• Supervising the Poll Clerk, Poll Assistant, Poll Orderly and promptly resolving any problem encountered by them. In other words, the Presiding Officer assigns tasks to all personnel working with him and ensures that each staff performs his assigned task(s) effectively and efficiently.
• Maintaining order at the polling station
• Undertaking thorough counting of votes and recording same in the result sheets for both the Councillorship and Chairmanship elections
• Submitting results of the poll to the Ward Returning Officer
• Returning all election materials to the Supervisory Presiding Officer at the Ward Collation Centre for delivery to the Chief Electoral Officer
• Reporting any breach of the peace to the Security Agents at the polling station and where necessary, order for the arrest of any person committing a serious electoral offence.

The Poll Clerk shall assist the Presiding Officer in the discharge of his duties and shall take charge of the proceedings of elections in the polling station in the absence of the Presiding Officer.

• Work under the supervision of the Presiding Officer
• Assist in the collection of electoral materials from the Supervisory Presiding Officer
• Assist in getting voters to form a queue and asking them to approach his table one after the other for accreditation
• As soon as the Presiding Officer has announced the opening of the polling station, he commences accreditation of eligible voters who assemble at the polling station
• Ask the voter for his Permanent Voter Card and checks the voters' register to confirm that the voter's name, pin number and photograph as contained in the PVC are in the register.
• Assist in sorting and counting of ballot papers after the polls.
• Assist with the return of election materials to the appropriate officer(s)

The Poll Assistant assists the Presiding Officer in the conduct of the elections in a polling station.

The Poll Orderly shall assist the Presiding Officer in maintaining order in the polling station. DUTIES OF THE poll orderly Regulates the movement of voters in the polling zone Controls the queue during accreditation and voting Inspects the PVC of those in the queue Assists in the general maintenance of order in the polling zone Assists in the sorting and counting of ballots Assists in the return of election materials to the SPO and Ward Returning Officer.

• Regulates the movement of voters in the polling zone
• Controls the queue during accreditation and voting
• Inspects the PVC of those in the queue
• Assists in the general maintenance of order in the polling zone
• Assists in the sorting and counting of ballots
• Assists in the return of election materials to the SPO and Ward Returning Officer.

TheThe Ward Returning Officer shall be responsible for the collation of the results submitted by Presiding Officers from all the Polling Stations within the Ward.

• Take delivery of unit results, in form DSIEC 6A (Statement of Results of Poll for Election of Chairman of Council and Form DSIEC 6A(1))
• Use forms DSIEC 6B and Form DSIEC 6B (1) to collate the results from the polling stations for Chairmanship and Councillorship elections
• The summary result is signed and stamped by the Ward Returning Officer and countersigned by the Poll/Party Agent (s).
• Duplicate copies are distributed to polling agents and security agents that are available and original copy to the Local Government Returning Officer (LGRO)
• Paste a copy of Form 6A in a conspicuous place in the polling station
• Complete Form DSIEC 6E (1) (declaration of result of election of member of council (councillor) and declares the candidate with the majority of lawful votes as the winner.