By George Mgbeleke

As  September 21 Edo state governorship election, draws close, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has expressed readiness and strong commitment to conducting a free fair and credible election in the state.

The INEC Chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, who gave this assurance in Benin City on Tuesday, after assessing the level of readiness by the staff the commission in the state, said INEC was not a political party and did not have a candidate in the election.

He said the responsibility of chosing the next governor of Edo state rested entirely in the hands of Edo voters, assuring all registered voters in the state to come out en masse to vote for the party and candidate of their choice.

He added that the commission would always protect the integrity of the process and uphold the choice made by the electorate.

Prof Yakubu who visited 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.

“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 chosing 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 troup out to vote for the party of their choice and the candidate if 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 all 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 however admitted that there were little logistic issues that needed to be addressed adding that his meeting with the Electoral Officers in the 18 local government areas of the state was aimed at harvesting the issues with a view to addressing 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.

“But in addition, I’m also going to speak with all the EOs in the 18 local government, 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.

Prof Yakubu stated that election is a multi-stakeholder activity and appealed to all everyone involved to conduct themselves in an orderly manner.

“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”, the INEC chairman said.