Speaking with newsmen in Benin during an assessment visit to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Edo State Headquarters, the National Chairman of the Commission, Mahmood Yakubu, said the Edo Governorship election slated for September 21st, 2024 will proceed unhindered.
Yakubu said his visit is meant to engage with staff and carry out assessment of the facility to assess the damage and setback done as a result of the flood. He stated that critical facilities needed for the Edo governorship election will be provided regardless of the setback suffered by the commission following a torrential rainfall resulting in heavy flooding that ravaged the Edo State headquarters office destroying sensitive materials.
Movable and immovable items were submerged, including vehicles parked at the premises as well as office furniture, equipment and some of the voter enrollment machines already configured for the forthcoming Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) were affected by the flood disaster.
Yakubu pledged the readiness of the Commission to carry on with its mandate saying, “we are here to see what happened to our facilities completely flooded following a torrential rainfall last Friday, 24th May, 2024,” adding “whatever we have lost in terms of critical facilities, we will replace.”
He said INEC has responded speedily following the assessment visit of the Edo State Headoffice to ensure the CVR exercise will not be affected and the preparation for the Edo governorship election will continue.
“The Commission is delivering additional machines from the neighbouring states to make up for the shortfall. Critical facilities we need for the Edo governorship election, we will make sure we provide.
“Edo election is one of the off cycle elections. We have called for additional resources from neighboring states to ensure there are no issues in the forthcoming Edo election. The CVR exercise will not be affected, and the preparation for the Edo governorship election will continue,” Yakubu said.
Earlier, Resident Electoral Commissioner(REC) for Edo State, Dr. Anugbum Onuoha, commended the National Chairman for the proactive measures and decision to continue with the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise, particularly efforts aimed at delivering additional machines from the neighbouring states to make up for the shortfall.
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