The chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof Mahmood Yakubu, has assured the people of Edo state that the commission will do everything possible to uphold the integrity of the September 21 governorship election in the state.

Speaking in Benin after monitoring the mock accreditation exercise aimed at test running facilities for the election, Prof. Yakubu said the task of electing the next governor of the state tests solely with the people of Edo state.

He expressed the readiness and strong commitment of the commission to conducting a free fair and credible election in the state, saying INEC was not a political party and did not have a candidate in the election.

The INEC Boss called all registered voters in the state to come out en masse to vote for the party and candidate of their choice, saying the commission would always protect the integrity of the process and uphold the choice of the people

Prof Yakubu who led some national commissioners to visit some polling units in three local governments – Oredo, Egor and Ikpeoba Okha, expressed satisfaction with all the levels of preparation at the INEC offices as well as the two centres visited for the mock accreditation exercise, said the commission was good to go.

He said: “My assurance to everyone in Edo state is, on the part of the commission, we keep saying this. INEC is not a political party therefore we don’t have a candidate in this election.

“The responsibility of choosing the next governor of Edo state is entirely in the hands of Edo voters and our assurance to all the registered voters in Edo state is to troop out to vote for the party of their choice and the candidate of their choice and the commission will always protect the integrity of the process and uphold the choice made by the electorate.

“We are satisfied with the level of preparation of our local government offices in the three offices we have visited- Oredo, Egor, and Ikpeoba Okha- as well as the two centres we have visited for the mock exercise. I think we are good to go,” he added.

While admitting some logistic challenges that need to be addressed, Prof Yakubu said his meeting with the electoral officers in the 18 local government areas of the state was aimed at harvesting the issues to address them.

“Well, there are little, little issues that we are going to address, like some of the non-sensitive materials but with the 11 days to the election, I’m absolutely certain that by the end of this week, we will address those issues.

“In addition, I’m also going to speak with all the EOs in the 18 local governments, not just the local government we visited and this is going to happen on Thursday after the signing of the national peace accord. So I’m going to speak with all the EOs and we will harvest all the concerns.

“That’s why we are here ahead of the elections so that we can respond to any issues that they may raise.

“It has always been the intention of the commission to organise good elections and I’m giving you assurances on the level of preparation. That is why I’m personally here in Edo state and let me seize this opportunity to appeal to other stakeholders as well.

“Election is a multi-stakeholder activity including the security agencies, the political parties, the candidates, the observers, even you the media, so you should report us very well,” he stated. (The Nation)

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