By: Mercy Peter
No fewer than 44,000 polling and collation agents of political parties are expected to participate in the upcoming Edo State governorship election.
The Independent National Electoral Commission, Thursday announced that the portal for submitting agent details, which opened on July 17 and closed at midnight on July 30, saw 44,687 agents uploaded by the 17 political parties participating in the election.
The Edo governorship poll is scheduled for September 21, 2024.
According to the National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun, the figure represents only 55.6 per cent of the expected 80,410 agents needed for the election.
The submitted agents include 43,043 polling unit agents, 1,452 ward collation agents, 179 local government collation agents, and 13 state collation agents.
INEC noted that while three political parties submitted the details of agents at all required levels, one party did not submit any agents at all.
The Edo State governorship election will take place across 4,519 polling units and 211 collation centres, including 192 ward centres, 18 local government centres, and the state collation centre in Benin City.
“For the Edo State governorship election, the portal opened on July 17, 2024, and automatically shut down at midnight on July 30, 2024, as indicated in item 9 of the Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the election released almost a year ago in September 2023.
“In Edo State, there are 4,519 polling units and 211 collation centres, comprising 192 ward centres, 18 local government centres, and the state collation centre in Benin City. A political party fielding candidates in the election is expected to nominate 4,730 agents.
“From the 17 parties participating in the election, the commission expected a cumulative total of 80,410 agents.
However, only 44,687 were uploaded to the portal, consisting of 43,043 polling agents, 1,452 ward agents, 179 local government agents, and 13 state collation agents. The 17 political parties nominated 55.6 per cent of the expected number of agents.
“Three political parties uploaded the details of their agents for all levels of polling and collation, while one party submitted no agents for any level of voting or collation,” the statement read in part.
