Ahead of the Edo and Ondo states governorship elections, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has underscored the need for accredited observer groups to comply with the objectives of election observation and the code of conduct contained in the commission’s rules of engagement.
Chairman of INEC, Mahmood Yakubu, who made this call in Abuja at the third quarterly consultative meeting with civil society organisations, warned that the commission reserves the right to revoke the accreditation of any individual observer or observer group that violates code of conduct for election observation.
He reminded the CSOs to submit the list of observers by uploading the required information, including photographs, to the dedicated portal.
The INEC boss said as at Monday 29th July 2024, 56 organisations have uploaded the details of 894 observers for the Edo state governorship election representing 33.6% of the expected 2,660 observers.
He added that the deadline was Wednesday 31st July 2024, when the portal would automatically shut down at 6pm.
He urged them to ensure they met the deadline so that the commission could produce the accreditation tags and deliver them for distribution to observers in good time.
INEC chairman said the commission was aware that some organisations have not only responded in good time, but also requested for additional slots for observers to deploy across the two states.
