Lucky Obukohwo, Reporting
Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, has assured the residents of Edo State that the ongoing Continuous Voters Registration exercise will continue despite the little hitches experienced by the commission in the state.
Recall that the Edo State office of the commission was ravaged by torrential downpour last week Friday in the state, destroying its property and facilities.
He said this when he paid an on-the-spot-assessment visit to the facilities and the staff of the Edo State headquarters office of the commission in Benin.
Prof. Mahmood said he was informed by the unfortunate incident that befell the office in Edo State and so, he decided to come and see things for himself.
“We are here basically to see what happened to our facilities following the unexpected torrential rain fall and flooding that occurred and even importantly, for us to come and meet with you, the staff in the Edo office.
“We thank God no life was lost. We thank God, no injuries but we want to assure you that despite the extensive damage, we have recovered the Continuous Voters Registration exercise, we are ready to conduct the governorship election in Edo State come September.
“We have three months and three weeks to the election from today and whatever we have lost in terms of critical equipment, whatever facilities we need to replace, whatever office facilities we need to replace, we will do so.
Prof Mahmood said that voters in the state have nothing to worry about as the commission will leverage on the facilities from the neighbouring states to augument for the shortfalls in Edo State.
“Whatever we need for the forthcoming Edo State governorship election, we will provide.
“Fortunately for us, this is an off cycle election, so we can rely on our resources from the neighbouring states for the election.
“It is only on general election that each states office must be self-sufficient but here we can call for additional resources from the neighbouring states to ensure that there are no issues in the election.
“The present commission has a lot of experience in handling the Edo governorship election.
“For me personally, this is going to be my third governorship elections in Edo.
“We conducted the 2016 election, we conducted the September 2020, and above, we are approaching the September 2024.
“So, the CVR which is ongoing will not be affected. Whatever issues and challenges we have, we will listen to the REC and its team and we will continue to respond.
“So, let me reassure Edo voters that the CVR will continue in spite the slight setback that we have experienced and that the preparation for the governorship election is also going to continue”, Mahmood said.