By Myke Uzendu, Abuja
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has charged Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) observing the upcoming Edo State Governorship election to adhere strictly to the Code of Conduct for election observation.
The Commission further threatened to revoke the accreditation of any organizations that compromises the process or breaches rules of engagement.
National Chairman of the Commission, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, made the call at the third regular quarterly consultative meeting with CSOs held on Tuesday. He reminded the observers that the deadline for submitting their observer lists is Wednesday, July 31st, and urged them to ensure they meet the deadline to receive accreditation tags in good 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 Code of Conduct for election observation.
“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 31stJuly 2024 when the portal automatically shuts down at 6pm. 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,” Yakubu said.
The INEC boss told the observers that the commission has made significant progress in preparing for the election, including the recovery from the damage caused by a torrential rainfall that flooded its headquarters in Benin City two months ago. He disclosed that additional Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines have been delivered to Edo State for training and contingency purposes.
The INEC Chairman also announced that the commission will publish the final figures of new voters in Edo State and their distribution by gender, age, occupation, and disability by the end of this week.
“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,” he stated.
Yakubu also expressed concern over recent events in Edo State, including the death of a security personnel, and assured that security will be a major issue discussed at an upcoming meeting with security agencies under the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES).
He also announced that bye-elections will soon be announced for vacancies in four states, involving three state constituencies and one federal constituency.
Responding on behalf of the CSOs, Dr. Gabriel Nwambu, from the Centre for Credible Elections reassured the Commission of its support to ensure that the Edo election was did not fall below standards.
