Ahead of the Edo State governorship election, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced important dates for the upcoming election. The signing of the peace accord is scheduled for Thursday, September 12, in Benin City.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, shared these updates during a meeting with political parties in Abuja on Thursday, August 29. The peace accord, organized with the National Peace Committee, aims to promote a peaceful and credible election process.
A mock accreditation exercise to test the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and result uploads will take place on Tuesday, September 10.
Yakubu explained that the peace accord signing was scheduled earlier than usual to allow the Peace Committee to monitor compliance with the code signed by parties, candidates, INEC, and security agencies. This proactive approach aims to give more weight to the peace accord beyond just a ceremonial event.
With 22 days remaining until the election on Saturday, September 21, 2024, Yakubu noted that INEC has already completed 10 out of the 13 planned activities. The most recent activity was presenting the final register of voters, which includes details of 2,629,025 registered voters on August 20, in Benin City.
Upcoming activities include:
– The publication of the Notice of Poll on Saturday, September 7.
– The last day of political campaigns on Thursday, September 19.
– The election day itself on Saturday, September 21.
Yakubu highlighted that key preparations, such as installing BVAS machines and printing voters’ registers for all 4,519 polling units in Edo State, are nearly complete. Additional preparations include finalizing logistics with transport unions and producing observer accreditation tags.
As of the latest update, 68.3% of the new Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) from the recent Continuous Voter Registration have been collected. Yakubu urged further mobilization to improve this collection rate before the September 8 deadline.
In the coming days, a Mock Accreditation exercise on September 10 will test BVAS and result uploads, and an INEC Stakeholders meeting will take place on September 11 in Benin City.
The INEC Chairman also addressed the importance of digital submissions for polling and collation agents, urging political parties to follow the new digital procedures.
Yusuf Dantalle, National Chairman of the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC), emphasized the need for political parties to respect the electoral process and conduct issue-based campaigns. He highlighted that the Edo election will be a key test for the upcoming Ondo State governorship election on November 16, and future elections.
Dantalle assured that IPAC will work closely with INEC, security agencies, election observers, and the media to ensure a free and fair election.
