…to publish final list of voters before weekend
About 1,766 election observers drawn from 78 observer groups may miss the opportunity to monitor the September 21 off-cycle governorship elections in Edo state, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said on Tuesday, July 30.
The Commission also said that it will soon publish the final list of voters as well as the number of registered voters for the Edo election.
The national chairman of the commission, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, who disclosed this at the regular quarterly meeting with civil society organisations in preparation for the Edo and Ondo elections, said as of the end of July 29, 2024, only 56 organisations have uploaded the list of 894 observers on the INEC porter.
He reminded them that the portal for observer accreditation will automatically shut down at 6.00 pm on Wednesday, July, 31.
The commission had announced that about 134 organisations made up of 124 local and 10 international observer groups applied to monitor the elections in both Edo and Ondo states.
The INEC chairman said: “It is now 52 days to the Edo State Governorship election coming up on Saturday 21st September 2024. Our preparations are going on in earnest. I am 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.
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“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.
“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.
“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.
“As the Edo State Governorship approaches, I wish to remind CSOs to submit the list of your observers by uploading the required information, including photographs, to the dedicated portal.
“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. The deadline is Wednesday 31st July 2024 when the portal automatically shuts down at 6 pm. I urge you to ensure that you meet the deadline so that the Commission can produce the accreditation tags and deliver them to you for distribution to your observers in good time.
“At the same time, the Commission is aware that some organisations have not only responded in good time but have also requested 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.”
Prof Yakubu asked the civil society groups to intensify advocacy for peace.
He said: “Happily, there has been no incident known to the Commission since then. Nevertheless, 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).
“I want to assure you that security in Edo and Ondo will be a major issue for discussion at the meeting. 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.
“At the same time, I wish to remind you of your 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 our website www.inecnigeria.org. I wish to reiterate that the Commission reserves the right to revoke the accreditation of any individual observer or observer group that violates the Code of Conduct for election observation.
“Turning to the issue of bye-elections, you may recall that at our last meeting, the Commission informed you of the existence of vacancies in four States, involving three State Constituencies and one Federal Constituency.
“Since then, two more vacancies have been declared by the Speaker of the House of Representatives following the death of the members representing Ibadan North Federal Constituency of Oyo State and the Chikun/Kajuru Federal Constituency of Kaduna State. The Commission will soon announce the dates for the bye-elections.”