Ahead of the September 21 governorship election in Edo State, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has assured of a level playing field, saying the commission has no candidate in the election.
This is even as the commission also assured that the election will not be postponed on account of flood that damaged some facilities at its headquarters in Benin City.
The INEC chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, stated this in Benin yesterday during a stakeholders’ meeting ahead of the election.
“INEC has no candidate in this election and we are not a political party. The last two elections in the state were won by two different political parties and the next election will be won by one of the parties sitting here.”
According to him, the 2024 election will be conducted in the commission’s facility because there is no other place that would be more convenient for them than its facility.
While assuring of level playing field for all parties in the election, he noted that only the people of Edo can determine who becomes their next governor.
Prof. Yakubu noted that the real challenge in the election was unwillingness of the people who have already been registered to collect their PVCs.
He said, “We have over 200,000 uncollected PVC in Edo State, these are the persons that have been registered but what is stopping them from picking their PVCs?