The Chairman of INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu yesterday said that staff of the commission would rise to the occasion of today’s election.
In a special message he signed, the INEC chairman said, “I have no doubt that our staff will rise to the occasion. We have done it several times before and we can do it again. The Commission deeply appreciates the never ending sacrifices made by our staff at all times, often beyond the call of duty, to ensure that we carry out our mandate”.
He appealed for commitment from all INEC staff, saying, “Let me appeal to all of you to remain steadfast and committed to the ideals of the Commission Nigerians and the international community expect so much from us.
“They are watching. It is important that we all remain above board in the performance of our respective duties. We must ensure that no political party or candidate is accorded any advantage over the other. We must be neutral at all times and stick strictly to our Code of Conduct and Oath of Neutrality to which we have all subscribed”, the INEC Chairman stated.
Yiaga Africa Deploys PVT to Check Credibility of Results
Yiaga Africa, through the Watching The Vote citizens movement, says it is deploying its Parallel Vote Tabulation (PVT) methodology for Saturday’s election.
The group explained that the PVT is an advanced election observation methodology that employs well-established statistical principles and sophisticated information technologies in providing timely and accurate information on the conduct of accreditation, voting, and counting, and it independently verifies the official governorship results as announced by the INEC.
According to Yiaga Africa, “The PVTs are not opinion polls. Yiaga Africa citizen observers do not ask voters for whom they cast their ballot. PVTs rely solely on official results from polling units. This tested and proven election observation methodology has been deployed in over 50 countries worldwide, including Nigeria – most recently by Yiaga Africa in the November 2019 Kogi and Bayelsa governorship elections where it detected fraud and manipulation of results collation and declined to verify the official results declared by INEC”.
Situation Room Deploys 300 Observers
The Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room (Situation Room) says it has deployed 300 Observers for today’s election.
The Situation Room also said that it would be on ground in Edo State to receive reports from its partners and networks distributed across the 18 local government areas of the State.
In a statement signed Alternate Chair of the Situation Room, Esther Uzoma, the group said it had received assurances from INEC and the Nigeria Police Force “that they are fully prepared for the elections, with INEC assuring that logistics and deployment are fully under its control and the Police assuring that it will keep the security situation under check.”
2,210,534 Voters
A total of 2,210,534 residents have registered to vote in today’s election. According to the Independent National Electoral Commission, 1,159,325 are men, while 1,052,209 are women. Also, youths between the ages of 18 and 35 make up 50 per cent of voters.
According to the register, the South Senatorial District has the highest number of registered voters with 1,281,414, the North with 564,122, while the Central Senatorial District has the least with 364,998 voters.
The Battle Grounds
In Edo South and Edo North, the fear of a titanic battle is more because of the presence of the two major gladiators in the area.
The state governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki is from Edo South while his deputy Philip Shaibu is from Edo North.
Similarly, while the APC Candidate is from the South district, his running mate is from the North district, thus, today’s election in the two senatorial districts will be tough, leaving Edo Central axis less problematic.
Another reason for the focus on Edo South and North is that the two districts command the highest number of registered voters.
The Central District will be less acrimonious because the area has five House of assembly member working for Obaseki and the PDP with only one working for APC.
