INEC clears 44,687 party agents for Edo guber election

Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said that a total of 44,687 polling and collation agents will participate in the September 21 governorship election in Edo State.

In a list of polling and collation agents released by the electoral umpire, yesterday, INEC said that the figure is made up of 43,043 polling units, 1,452 wards, 179 local councils and 13 state collation agents.

National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun, disclosed that the commission had expected a cumulative figure of 80,410 agents from the 17 parties participating in the election.

He however said that the 17 political parties nominated 55.6 per cent of the expected number of agents while a political party did not nominate any agent.

He said: “The Commission met today, Thursday, August 8, 2024, and, among other matters, reviewed the ongoing preparations for the Edo and Ondo states’ governorship elections.”

“Nigerians may recall that since 2020, the Commission has replaced the manual process for accreditation of observers, media, polling and collation agents with dedicated portals to which the required information, including photographs, is uploaded. Political parties were subsequently required to upload the details of their agents for polling units and collation centres for all elections.

“For the Edo State governorship election, the portal opened on July 17, 2024, and automatically shut down at midnight on July 30, 2024, as indicated on item 9 on the timetable and schedule of activities for the election released almost a year ago in September 2023.”