The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has concluded a successful mock accreditation in Edo State emphasising its commitment and readiness to conduct the off-cycle governorship election scheduled for September 21st, 2024. INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, gave this assurance while addressing the media following his visits to the Local Government Areas (LGAs), where he monitored
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has concluded a successful mock accreditation in Edo State emphasising its commitment and readiness to conduct the off-cycle governorship election scheduled for September 21st, 2024.
INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, gave this assurance while addressing the media following his visits to the Local Government Areas (LGAs), where he monitored the accreditation exercise on Tuesday in Benin, Edo State capital.
The electoral commission conducted the mock accreditation of voters at some selected polling units to test run the deployment of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal. The exercise took place at 12 Polling Units in six Local Government Areas, covering three Senatorial Districts from 8.30 am to 2.30 pm.in Oredo and Ikpoba-Okha local government areas of the state.
According to the commission, the exercise was required to ensure that the BVAS functioned properly and that the process of uploading polling unit results to IReV was efficient and reliable.
Speaking after the monitoring and inspection of INEC local government offices, Mr. Yakubu stated that the mock accreditation was designed to test the system’s integrity before the election and that the visit was a routine activity carried out by the commission on the eve of a major off-cycle election.
He also affirmed the commission’s readiness to conduct a credible electoral process in the state, noting that the activeness of the technology used for the poll indicated that they were ready to make the process free, fair, and credible.
Professor Yakubu also called for active participation as he urged the electorates who have registered to participate in the voting process in the state to come out to vote for the party of their choice and the candidate of their choice.
“We have visited Oredo, Ikpoba-Okha, and Egor local government areas to assess the readiness in terms of the level of preparation, the materials received so far, and how they are preparing for the election in the next 11 days.
“We have already visited two centres to observe a mock accreditation exercise intended to test run the integrity of our systems ahead of the election, both for voter accreditation as well as uploading of the results.
“We have observed, and so far, so good in terms of readiness of our local government offices for the election and also in terms of the technology we are deploying for the election, INEC is ready,” he said.
“The responsibility of choosing the next governor for Edo is entirely in the hands of Edo voters.
“Our appeal to all registered voters in Edo is to come out to vote for the party of their choice and the candidate of their choice.
“The commission will ensure the protection of the integrity of the process and uphold the choice made by the electorate,” he added.
