Barely a week after flood submerged and destroyed electoral facilities at the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Edo State Office, Mahmood Yakubu, Chairman of the Commission on Thursday visited the affected office, promising that the flooding would not affect the conduct of September 21, 2024 Governorship election in the State.
BusinessDay reports that Yakubu was accompanied on the visit by the Directors of Voters Registry, Estate and Transport as well as the Information and Communication Technology, ICT and among others.
“We are here basically to see for ourselves what happened to our facilities following the unexpected torrential rainfall and the flooding that occurred and equally for us to meet with you who are the staff in the Edo office.
“We thank God no life was lost. We also thank God that there was no injuries. But we want to assure you that in spite of the excessive damages, we are committed to go on with the continuous voters registration exercise, and as well as committed to conduct the governorship election, come September 21, 2024.
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“We have three months and three weeks to the election as from today. So, whatever we have lost in terms of critical equipment, and whatever support facilities we need to replace, whatever office and furniture facilities we need to replace we will do so”, he said.
Mahmood, who also assured that whatever that would be needed for the successful conduct of the election would be provided, added that all resources required in terms of critical facilities and equipment for the election would be sourced from neighbouring States.
The INEC, chairman, while assuring Edo State voters that the Continuous Voters Registration would continue in spite of the slight setback, added that the preparation for the Governorship election would also continue.
He, however, lauded the turnout of prospective voters for the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise in the State, noting that the exercise had witnessed fresh registrants, application for transfer and collection of Permanent Voters Card (PVC).
Earlier, Onuoha Anugbum, State Resident Electoral Commissioner, thanked the INEC chairman for the proactive decision in relocating the flooded State headquarters of the Commission to its Ikpoba Okha Local Government Area Office.
Anugbum, said the decision helped the Commission a lot because many people were thinking that the Registration exercise would not take place again.
He assured that the staff could not afford to fail the Commission, saying the staff are committed to conducting a free, fair and credible Governorship election in the State.
