INEC Accredits 134 Election Observers for Edo, Ondo Gubernatorial Elections

Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has accredited 134 election observers for the forthcoming governorship elections in Edo and Ondo States.

INEC National Commissioner and Chairman,

Information and Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun, in a statement, yesterday, said of the 134 observers, 124 were domestic, while 10 were international.

He said, “In continuation of preparations for the 2024 Edo and Ondo State Governorship elections, the Commission was pleased to provide an update on the accreditation of observers for the elections.

“A total of 153 applications were received from interested organisations. After a review as provided by our regulations and guidelines, 134 groups (124 domestic and 10 international) met the requirements for accreditation.

“The classification of the organisations shows that 28 are gender-based, three representing Persons with Disability, eight are faith-based, 10 foreign and over 100 others working in areas relevant to the functions of INEC, most of them with previous experience of election observation.”

The commission stressed that the next step was for the accredited organisations to upload the personal details and photographs of their field observers to its dedicated portal established for that purpose.

To this end, the Commission said it would be organising a one-day training for representatives of observer groups on Wednesday 17th July 2024 at the Commission’s Conference Room in Abuja at 10.00am.