52 days to the Edo State Governorship election, the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC has again reiterated that the Commission reserves the right to revoke the accreditation of any individual observer or observer group that violates Code of Conduct for election observation.
INEC Chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu disclosed this today, 30th July 2024 at the third regular quarterly consultative meeting with the Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) whch focused mainly on the forthcoming Edo State and Ondo State Governorship elections.
It would be recall that first meeting for the year was held on Wednesday 20th March 2024 while the second took place two months ago on Tuesday 14th May 2024.
INEC boss reminds them of their obligation as observers to comply with the objectives of election observation and the Code of Conduct contained in the Commission’s rules of engagement for accredited election observers. A concise summary is contained in the 22-page document entitled “Briefing for Observers” available on INEC website www.inecnigeria.org
While reminding the CSOs to submit the list of their observers by uploading the required information, including photographs, to the dedicated portal, Prof Mahmood Yakubu revealed that as at yesterday, Monday 29th July 2024, 56 organisations have uploaded the details of 894 observers for the Edo State Governorship election representing 33.6% of the expected 2,660 observers.
He noted that the deadline is Wednesday 31stJuly 2024 when the portal automatically shuts down at 6pm. He therefore niord them to ensure that they meet the deadline so that the Commission can produce the accreditation tags will be delivered to them for distribution to their observers in good time.
Prof Yakubu also pointed out that the Commission is aware that some organisations have not only responded in good time, but have also requested for additional slots for observers to deploy across the two States. The Commission will consider such requests on a case-by-case basis depending on the organisation’s previous experience, size, capacity and record of compliance with the guidelines and code of conduct for election observation.
He assured all the CSOs of security in Edo and Ondo as the Commission will meet with the security agencies as early as Friday this week under the auspices of the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES).l to discuss major issue. "We are as concerned about the safety of candidates, agents and supporters as we are about the security of our own officials, observers, journalists, service providers and, above all, the voters.
"Iam glad to report that we have recovered from the torrential rainfall that resulted in the severe flooding of our State Headquarters in Benin City two months ago.
"The damage to the physical infrastructure as well as movable and immovable facilities are being fixed or replaced. 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 once again published the final list of candidates in compliance with the recent Court Order mandating the Commission to replace the running mate to the candidate of the Labour Party. The amended list is already published on our website.
"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. Based on the information provided by the Commission, we look forward to your partnership in encouraging citizens to collect their PVCs."
He also announced that bye-elections will soon be announced for vacancies in four states, involving three state constituencies and one federal constituency.
In his remarks, Dr. Gabriel Nwambu, Centre for Credible Elections on behalf of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) present at the meeting thanked the INEC Chairman for his professionalism and for urging them to intensify their advocacy for peaceful elections, including engagement with stakeholders.
Following the conclusion of the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR), the display of the register for claims and objections by citizens, and further data clean-up using the Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS), the final register for the forthcoming Governorship elections is being finalised.
