The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) began the continuous voter registration exercise in Edo State on Monday.
The exercise is intended to capture potential voters who have yet to register ahead of Edo’s governorship election on September 21.
He stated that the CVR and PVC collection would take place during a 10-day period from May 27 to June 5, 2024, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily, including weekends.
This is despite Jarret Tenebe, the state acting chairman of the All Progressives Congress, calling for the cancellation of the exercise on Friday due to damage to its secretariat, materials, and CVR equipment.
In response to the call, Timidi Wariowei, Edo INEC’s Director of Voters Education and Publicity, said it was wrong to level such an accusation against the election umpire.
Tenebe stated that the stakeholders meeting held on May 16 at the INEC office in Benin was intended to address related issues and that it was incorrect to level such an accusation against the commission.
The CVR activity monitored in Oredo, Egor, and Ikpoba-Okha local governments revealed that PVC collection was occurring concurrently with the ongoing voter registration exercise.
Speaking at the Ikpoba-Okha registration location, Rhoda Gumus, INEC National Commissioner in charge of Edo, Delta, and Cross River, expressed pleasure with the procedure while urging registrants to be patient, stating that they would all be registered.
Gumus said, “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. As you can see, we have registered some people, and others are still waiting. The process just started today. It is impressive and commendable,” she said.
Anugbum Onuoha, the state Resident Electoral Commissioner, stated that INEC was adequately prepared for the exercise and that the flood tragedy, which wrecked some of the commission’s equipment, could not halt the process.
Onuoha 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. Due to the flood disaster, we moved our head office registration area to the INEC office at Ikpoba-Okha local government.
“We are here and 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. People expected us to discontinue the exercise, but we were prepared even before the flood disaster happened.
“Yes, we had some initial network problems, but they have been resolved, and the exercise is going on smoothly. By the grace of God, the exercise will be successful.”
