By: Mercy Peter
The Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu Thursday provided an update on the commission’s preparedness for the September 21 2024 governorshop poll in Edo State.
This is as Yakubu revealed that the commission was yet to get the dates and locations of major campaign rallies and processions from any of the political parties.
He spoke at an emergency meeting with national chairmen and secretaries of all the registered political parties.
He said: “It is exactly 22 days (3 weeks and 1 day) to the Edo State Governorship election. Campaigns are in full swing and we have already implemented 10 out of the 13 activities listed in our Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the election.
“In addition to these statutory activities, we have intensified our engagement with stakeholders at State and Local Government levels. Similarly, voter education is ongoing. We have concluded the training of security personnel and we are finalising the delivery of the few remaining non-sensitive materials for the election.
“We are concluding arrangements with the land and maritime transport unions for logistics. The printing of triplicate copies of voters’ registers for each of the 4,519 Polling Units in Edo State is virtually completed.
“The installation and configuration of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines to be deployed on Election Day is completed. Observer accreditation tags are being produced.
“The portal for media accreditation closes next week and so far, 88 media organisations have applied by uploading the details of 698 personnel (journalists, technicians and crew members) to cover the election. We will soon commence the training of various categories of ad-hoc staff.
“Early this week, the Commission announced that out of 184,438 Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) from the recent Continuous Voter Registration (CVR), 125,928 PVCs representing 68.3% of new cards were collected at Ward level in Edo State in just five days.
“This is the highest rate of collection of PVCs since the introduction of the CVR for off-cycle elections in the Bayelsa and Kogi State governorship elections in 2015.
“The Commission appreciates the role played by political parties and other stakeholders in mobilising new voters to collect their PVCs. Just yesterday, Wednesday 28th August 2024, the collection of PVCs resumed in our 18 Local Government offices in Edo State. This will last until Sunday 8th September 2024.
“We once again appeal to stakeholders for the same level of mobilisation so that we can achieve an even higher rate of collection.”
On other scheduled activities, he said “on Tuesday 10th September 2024, the Commission will conduct a Mock Accreditation of voters to test-run the deployment of BVAS for the election as well as the upload of results to the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal.
“Twelve Polling Units in six LGAs across the three Senatorial Districts of the State have been designated as centres for the one-day exercise which begins at 8.30am and ends at 2.30pm. Detailed information on the locations of the Polling Units for the exercise have been uploaded to our website.”
He also warned the political parties on the need to play by the rules.
He said: “The Commission is aware that you are in the middle of an electioneering campaign in Edo State. I urge you to continue to maintain decorum and civility in your campaigns and fully comply with the Commission’s Regulations and Guidelines for the conduct of rallies and processions.”
“So far, no political party has submitted to the Commission the dates and locations of your major campaign rallies and processions but some of you are quick to complain of incidents when they occur. Doing so will enable better coordination of your campaign activities,” he added.
