The independent national electoral commission (INEC) is currently meeting with journalists to provide an update on governorship election preparations.
The Commission claims it has gone to great lengths to ensure that this election is carried out with the utmost integrity.
In the last 3 months, the electoral body has intensified their engagement with stakeholders at State and Local Government levels, while voter education is still ongoing at all levels.
The training of security personnel has been completed, while the training of ad hoc staff, supervisory presiding officers, presiding officers, and assistant presiding officers begins today, June 6th, and will last until June 15th in Edo state.
The Commission also claims it is finalising logistics agreements with land and sea transport unions. The printing of triplicate copies of voters’ registers for each of Edo State’s 4,519 Polling Units is almost complete.
The installation and configuration of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines to be deployed on Election Day is completed.
Observer and accreditation tags are being produced as well.
The Commission Chairman will oversee the management team on Tuesday, September 10, 2024, as they observe the mock accreditation of voters in specific polling units in Edo state.
This will serve as a test run for the deployment of BVAS during the election, as well as the uploading of scanned polling unit results to the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal.
On Wednesday, 11th September, in Benin City, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu will chair the INEC Stakeholders meeting involving the Police I.G and all relevant stakeholders in Edo state.
And on Thursday, the 12th, signing of the Peace Accord by candidates will take place under the supervision of the National Peace Committee chaired by General Abdulsalami Abubakar (retired).
The committee also urged the media to be wary of fake news and misinformation, particularly during election season, because such information has the ability to disrupt the political process, damage public trust, and instigate unneeded tensions.
The Commission also claims to have taken proactive actions to counteract this danger, including being open and honest in all of its dealings, and has made it a habit to continually notify the public via the media following each Commission meeting when decisions are made.
