53 Days To Edo Gov Election, INEC Declares Readiness, Urges Peaceful Campaigns

By Nathaniel Gana and Dominic James

Monday 29^th July 2024

With barelyfv  53 days to the Edo State Governorship Election scheduled for Saturday 21^st September 2024, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has assured leaders of political parties of its readiness for a free, fair and credible process.

But the Commission is worried about the recent campaign incident that resulted in the death of a security personnel in Benin City, Edo State, just as it called on party leaders to demonstrate compliance with the INEC Regulations and Guidelines for Political Parties 2022, especially the aspect dealing with rallies, processions and campaigns.

INEC Chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, told party leaders at a meeting held in Abuja earlier today, Monday 29^th July 2024, that the Commission has recovered from the flooding that caused substantial damage at its State headquarters in Benin City two months ago. He said the damage to physical infrastructure has been fixed, vehicles repaired, while other moveable and immovable facilities have either been serviced, refurbished or gradually being replaced.

He said: “We have delivered additional Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines to Edo State for the training of election duty personnel as well as contingency for Election Day support. We have since published the final list of candidates but we are once again sharing the list with party leaders at this meeting in view of the recent Court Order mandating the Commission to replace the running mate of the candidate of the Labour Party. The amended list is already published on our website.”

Continuing, Prof. Yakubu stated that following the conclusion of the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) in Edo and Ondo States, the Commission displayed the register for claims and objections by citizens, and subjected it to a clean up using the Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS). It is now being finalised. He assured the party leaders: “Before the end of this week, the Commission will publish the final figures of new voters in the two States as well as their distribution by gender, age, occupation and disability. Thereafter, the timetable for the collection of uncollected Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) from previous registration and new registrants from the latest CVR will be published.”

He added: “The Commission is aware that going by our Timetable and Schedule of Activities, the register of voters will be published not later than 30 days before the date fixed for the election. We wish to reassure the Chairmen of political parties that each party fielding candidates in the forthcoming Governorship election in Edo State will receive the softcopy of the register on 20^th August 2024, while that of Ondo State will take place on 15^th October 2024.”

However, the INEC Chairman revealed that as of 28th July, only 14 political parties had uploaded details of 38,354 polling agents and 819 collation agents for the Edo State governorship election. He averred that three parties were yet to upload a single polling agents while five parties have also not uploaded a single agent for ward, local government and State collation centres.

He reminded his audience: “The deadline is tomorrow Tuesday 30^th July 2024, when the portal automatically shuts down at midnight. I urge you to ensure that you meet the deadline so that the Commission can produce the accreditation tags and deliver them to you for distribution to your agents in good time.”

Prof. Yakubu regretted that campaign periods had often been characterised by acrimony, tension, verbal abuse and physical confrontation among political parties, candidates and their supporters. He said the Commission found the recent event in Edo State which led to the death of a security personnel worrisome.

“Happily,” he noted, “there has been no incident known to the Commission since then. Nevertheless, the Commission will meet with the security agencies under the auspices of the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES). I want to assure you that security in Edo and Ondo will be a major issue for discussion at the meeting. We are as concerned about the safety of your candidates, agents and supporters as we are about the security of our own officials, observers, journalists, service providers and, above all, the voters.”

He also told the party leaders that the Commission would soon announce the dates for the pending bye elections.

Responding, the National Chairman of the Inter Party Advisory Council (IPAC), Mr Yusuf Dantalle, rejected the proposed Bill by the Senate for the creation of the Local Government Independent Electoral Commission. According to him, the proposed body will not be different from the existing State Independent Electoral Commissions (SEICs).

He said: “Council rejects the proposed Bill to create the so-called Local Government Independent Electoral Commission, bearing in mind that it would be another SIEC in disguise. It is unacceptable, ill-conceived, another electoral jamboree that will impede the nation’s democracy and waste public funds at a time when citizens demand a smaller government to reduce the cost of governace.”

On the Edo Govoership election, Dantalle said there was no substitute for free, fair, credible, transparent, inclusive and peceful poll. His words: “The success of this election, along with Ondo’s will go a long way in restoring trust in the democratic process essential for enduring representative governance.”