Prof Mahmood Yakubu, Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), reassured stakeholders in Edo State of the commission’s preparedness for the upcoming governorship election on September 21.
Addressing the stakeholders in Benin, Yakubu emphasized the importance of cooperation to ensure a credible election process.
He highlighted that this meeting, traditionally held before major off-cycle governorship elections, is co-hosted by the INEC Chairman and the Inspector-General of Police to discuss election preparations.
Yakubu detailed that the session aimed to engage with political parties, candidates, accredited observers, media, and other stakeholders to review the election’s readiness. He noted that the Inspector-General would address security preparations, while he would cover electoral preparations. Together, they would address any issues or concerns raised by the attendees.
The INEC Chairman outlined that preparations for the election began last year with the release of the timetable and schedule of activities, by legal requirements. Out of 13 statutory activities listed—from the publication of the election notice to election day—11 have already been completed.
Yakubu reported that the final list of candidates had been published, with minor adjustments made following court orders. The Labour Party’s running mate was replaced as directed by the court, and the National Rescue Movement (NRM), which missed its nomination deadline, was included on the ballot after a court order.
With the conclusion of the recent Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) in Edo, 184,438 Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) have been issued—119,206 for new voters and 65,232 for various updates and transfers. Edo State now has a total of 2,629,025 registered voters. A detailed breakdown of PVCs collected for each of the 4,519 polling units will be published soon, while uncollected PVCs will be secured in the Central Bank of Nigeria until after the election.
Yakubu also revealed that INEC has accredited 134 groups (124 domestic and 10 international) to deploy 1,836 observers and 114 media organizations with 721 journalists. Thousands of agents representing candidates and political parties will be present at the 4,730 polling and collation locations across the state.
The BVAS machines will be used for voter accreditation and uploading results to the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal.
Dr. Greg Igbinomwanhia, Chairman of the Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC), urged political parties to adhere to the rules to ensure a free, fair, and credible election. Political party chairpersons and candidates also delivered goodwill messages and raised concerns regarding the election.
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