Joseph Bakare
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has assured openness and accountability in the upcoming Governorship elections in Edo State.
Chairman of the Commission, Mahmood Yakubu, while addressing stakeholders meeting in the State, said the that INEC is ready for the election and is deploying the BVAS machines for voter accreditation at polling units and for the upload of results to the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal.
Yakubu said the Agency has conducted mock accreditation in 12 polling units across six Local Government Areas in the three Senatorial Districts of the State. The purpose was to test-run its deployment of technology to safeguard the credibility of the election.
“I am glad to report that the mock was successful and the result can be viewed on the IReV portal. But let me also quickly add that the machines used for the mock accreditation and the training of officials will not be used on Election Day. “We have sufficient machines for the election which have been configured for voter accreditation and the upload of result distinct from those used for mock accreditation and training.”
Speaking further he said for the 2024 Edo State Governorship election holding next week, INEC has been open and transparent about our processes. “We engaged several times with stakeholders at the national level and here in Edo State. We have made every information about the election available to Nigerians. We have published the list of candidates, the number registered voters and the number of PVCs collected. We have made available the locations of voting and collation centres across the State. We have accredited observers and media organisations for the election. We have accredited polling and collation agents and made the details public. Only yesterday, we visited some of the Local Government Areas to assess our readiness for the election. We have test-run our election technology in preparation for the Election Day. We are deploying the requisite number of technical staff to address challenges that may occur in the field. We have made arrangements for land and maritime transportation of personnel and materials. We have arranged for the delivery of sensitive materials for the election to Edo State early next week. We will invite political parties and other stakeholders for the usual inspection of the materials at the Central Bank here in Benin ahead of the delivery to the Local Government Areas. We are leaving no stone unturned in our preparations for the election, always in consultation with the stakeholders. I urge you to play your own part positively in delivering yet another credible Governorship election in Edo State. You should continue to restrain your supporters from violence and other disruptive conduct. The best way to do so is by the personal example you set as political parties and candidates both in your campaign speeches and action.”
On the part of INEC, the Chairman said active preparations for the election started last year with the release of the Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the election as required by law.
Overall, 13 statutory activities were listed beginning with the publication of the Notice of Election and ending with the Election Day. The document has been widely publicised and as a reminder, we have included it in the information booklet circulated at this meeting.
According to him, the Commission has so far implemented 11 out of the 13 activities on schedule. “As at today, we have only two outstanding activities. These are the last day of campaign by political parties which, according to law, ends 24 hours before the date fixed for the elections i.e. at midnight on Thursday 19th September 2024 and Election Day on Saturday 21st September 2024.” he said.
Also, the Commission has published the final list of candidates he said but however noted that there are two adjustments to the list. “By court order, the Commission has replaced the running mate to the candidate of the Labour Party. Similarly, the National Rescue Movement (NRM) which could not file its nomination on schedule has obtained a court order to compel the Commission to include the party on the ballot.
“We have complied with the court order. Consequently, 18 political parties are now participating in the 2024 Edo State Governorship election. The updated list of parties and candidates is contained in the information booklet circulated at this meeting.” he explained.
Giving further update, he said that following the conclusion of the recent Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) in Edo State and the cleaning up of the data, 184,438 Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) were delivered to Edo State.
This figure is made up of 119,206 new voters and 65,232 verified applications for transfer into Edo from other States of the Federation, transfer within Edo State, cards reprinted after corrections of personal details or the replacement of lost or damaged cards as provided by law.
Yakubu informed that Edo State now has a total of 2,629,025 registered voters. In our commitment to transparency, the Commission has made available softcopies of the entire register of voters to each political party fielding candidates in the forthcoming election.
In the next few days, he said the Commission will publish the detailed breakdown of PVCs collected for each of the 4,519 Polling Units across the State. Meanwhile, all uncollected PVCs will be mopped up from the 18 Local Government Areas and warehoused in the Central Bank of Nigeria until after the Governorship election.
The Commission has so far accredited 134 groups (124 domestic and 10 international) deploying 1,836 observers across the State. Similarly, we have accredited 114 media organisations deploying 721 journalists.
It has also accredited thousands of agents representing candidates and political parties at the 4,730 polling and collation locations made up of 4,519 polling units, 192 Ward collation centres, 18 Local Government collation centres and the State Collation Centre.
“I want to assure you that the accreditation tags for all categories of stakeholders are ready. We will announce the date and venue for collection in the next 24 hours. Similarly, election duty vehicle stickers are available for collection from our Edo State office here in Benin City.” he said.
In its various engagements with stakeholders at the national level, they underscored the importance of providing security during the election to guarantee their personal safety, the protection of their equipment and unimpeded access to voting and collation locations.
The Commission has conveyed this concern to the security Agencies at the last meeting of ICCES at the national level. We have also discussed the security of our own officials (both regular and ad hoc staff) for the election, the service providers such as transporters and, above all, the citizens that will vote during the election.
He announced that the relevant Agencies have given the necessary assurance of security during the election. We will hear more from the Inspector-General of Police shortly.
He also announced that today, Thursday 12th September 2024, the Peace Accord involving parties and candidates will be signed at 10.00am, adding “Our respected former Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar GCFR, will preside over the occasion in his capacity as the Chairman of the National Peace Committee.”.