We’re ready for Edo election – INEC assures

The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, had assured stakeholders in Edo State of its readiness for the September 21 governorship election.

The Chairman of the Commission, Prof Mahmoud Yakubu, gave this assurance on Wednesday in Benin, appealing to the stakeholders to cooperate with the commission to ensure credible election.

Yakubu noted that the meeting is traditionally convened on the eve of major off-cycle governorship elections and jointly addressed by the INEC chairman and the Inspector-General of Police.

According to him, the purpose was to interact with political parties and candidates, accredited observers, the media and other stakeholders on the preparations for the election.

“In particular, the IG will address us on security preparations for the elections, while I will address you on the electoral preparation and together, we will respond to issues and concerns you may wish to raise, ” he said.

The chairman said on the part of INEC, 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.

He disclosed that 13 statutory activities were listed beginning with the publication of the notice of election and ending with the election day, adding that 11 out of the 13 activities had been concluded.

The chairman disclosed that following the conclusion of the recent Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) in Edo, 184,438 Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) were delivered to the state.

He said the figure was made up of 119,206 new voters and 65,232 verified applications for transfer into Edo, transfer within the state, cards reprinted or replaced as provided by law.

He stated that the commission had already announced that Edo State now has a total of 2,629,025 registered voters.