INEC starts voter registration in Edo.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) commenced the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise in Edo State on Monday. This exercise is aimed at registering potential voters in preparation for the upcoming governorship election in Edo on September 21.
The CVR and Permanent Voter Card (PVC) collection will take place over a 10-day period, from May 27 to June 5, 2024, operating daily from 9 am to 3 pm, including weekends.
Despite a call from the acting chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Edo State, Jarret Tenebe, to cancel the exercise due to damages to the APC secretariat and materials intended for CVR, the process went ahead as scheduled. Tenebe’s call followed an incident that caused damage to the APC’s secretariat and equipment.
Reacting to Tenebe’s request, Timidi Wariowei, the head of Voters Education and Publicity for Edo INEC, refuted the allegations against the commission, suggesting it was unfair to blame INEC. He highlighted that a stakeholders’ meeting on May 16 at the INEC office in Benin addressed related issues, making the accusations against INEC baseless.
The CVR exercise was monitored in several local government areas, including Oredo, Egor, and Ikpoba-Okha, where PVC collection was also ongoing. Rhoda Gumus, the INEC National Commissioner for Edo, Delta, and Cross River, expressed satisfaction with the exercise during a visit to the Ikpoba-Okha registration area, which is temporarily serving as the state head office registration center due to flood damage at the main office.
Gumus stated, “We have been to Oredo and we are here at the Ikpoba-Okha registration area, which we are using as our state head office registration centre because of the flood disaster that happened at our head office on Friday. We are in touch with other registration areas within and outside Benin, and the exercise is going on smoothly.”
Anugbum Onuoha, the state Resident Electoral Commissioner, assured that INEC was well-prepared for the CVR exercise despite the flood disaster. He said, “We thank God for the enablement to begin this exercise, having in mind the flood disaster that destroyed some of our equipment on Friday. We moved our head office registration area to the INEC office at Ikpoba-Okha local government. We are witnessing a large turnout of people who are here as either new registrants or to transfer their registration or for PVC collection. INEC is prepared for this exercise, and nothing will make us fail.”
Onuoha acknowledged initial network issues but confirmed they had been resolved, and the registration process was proceeding smoothly.
On the other hand, Jarret Tenebe of the APC reiterated his call for the cancellation of the CVR, alleging that INEC and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) were colluding to manipulate the registration process to benefit the PDP. The APC claimed that this manipulation was the first step towards rigging the election in favor of the PDP
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