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Tony Osauzo, Benin
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Edo State on Monday presented soft copies of the voters’ register including flash drives to the 14 political parties participating in September 19 governorship election in the state.
Mrs May Agbamuche-Mbu, the INEC National Commissioner in charge of Edo, Rivers and Bayelsa States, presented the register to the political parties at the INEC office located at Sapele Road in Benin City.
Presenting the Voters’ Register, Agbamuche-Mbu said it mark’s the flag off of the publication of the voters register in Edo State.
‘In pursuant to section 20 of the electoral Act, 2010 as amended, the commission is mandated to publish the voters register for the conduct of a general election.
‘Consequently, the register shall be published in a designated location in all the local government areas, registration areas and polling units in Edo.
‘It is my profound appeal that you advise your constituents, members and voters of the need to check their details in the register.
‘To know the location of their polling units and come out en masse to vote on September 19.
‘You may recall that the commission publicly declared on January 7, 2019, that Nigeria has a total of 84, 004 084 Voters.
‘And by virtue of that declaration the total number of registered voters in Edo as at today is 2,210,534 with 1,159,325 male and 1,051, 209 female,’ Mrs Agbamuche-Mbu said.
She explained that INEC as an electoral umpire has resolved to be professional, independent and impartial, adding that the commission expects the political parties to join it and the security agencies in conducting a truly violent-free election.
The INEC Commissioner also explained that the commission has put in place a policy to conduct the election under strict adherence to the NCDC guidelines on COVID-19.
Also speaking, the State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), John Alalibo, in his remarks, urged the political parties to always present themselves for INEC programmes when called upon.
INEC, he said ‘is doing well especially as it relates to the new innovation introduced to improve our electoral process.
‘All the information we give out here are all in accordance with the electoral law and it is important that we present it to you.
‘I can see that 10 of the 14 political parties participating in the governorship election are here. The other four who are not here will have to come to my office to collect their copies,’ Alalibo said.
Earlier, the Deputy Director, Software and Training, INEC headquarters, Abuja, Ama Agwu spoke on the new technological innovation to the electoral system, explaining that the new technologies would help improve the electoral process to achieve credibility and transparency in elections.
‘He listed the new innovations introduced by INEC to include voter authentication system and Bi-modal voter authentication using the smart card readers and facial matching software.
Agwu also disclosed that the commission has also introduced the INEC results viewing portal (lRev) to improve the openness and credibility of elections.
He explained that the form EC8A filled and signed by the presiding officer would be uploaded to the portal and can be viewed by the public.
