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The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared its readiness for the conduct of the September 19 governorship election in Edo State.
Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, INEC Chairman, made the declaration on Thursday during a meeting with the Inter Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES) in Benin.
Prof. Yakubu said the commission had successfully carried out 10 out of the 14 activities on schedule for the election.
“The whole purpose of this visit is to see firsthand the level of preparation. Yes, we received reports at the headquarters but we feel that it is important to come to Benin and see for ourselves what is on ground,” he said.
“On February 6, 2020, the commission released a timetable and schedule of activities for Edo and Ondo governorship elections. We gave seven and eight months notices for the Edo and Ondo elections respectively.
“And we itemised 14 activities in the timetable and schedule of activities to be carried out on specific dates beginning with the publication of the notice of election and ending with election day proper.
“I am happy to say that so far we have carried out 10 out of the 14 activities on schedule. Not one activity was rescheduled for a minute.
“The last one was the presentation of the voters register to the 14 political parties fielding candidates for the election.”
The Chairman further explained that the four remaining activities include the publication of the notice of poll which will be done on Tuesday, followed by the submission of polling agents by the political parties on the same day.
“End of campaign which by law is 24 hours to the election. So, campaign will stop by midnight of Thursday before the Saturday of election and then the election day itself,” he added.
“So, in terms of readiness, we are fully ready for this election.”
