Ahead of the September 21, 2024 governorship election in Edo State, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have traded words over the Continuous Voters Registration (CVR) exercise scheduled by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) between May 27 and June 5, 2024.
APC spokesman in the state, Peter Igbinigie, asked INEC to postpone the exercise claiming that some items were destroyed when flood affected the office of the electoral umpire last week.
The APC also alleged that the PDP planned to rig the poll using the voter registration exercise, an allegation denied by the Commissioner for Communication and Orientation, Chris Nehikhare.
The APC consequently demanded “the immediate deployment of INEC Head of ICT in Edo State who we know is working closely with a female INEC staff in Bayelsa State: She is the wife of a PDP chieftain Edo State”.
The party also demanded “the strict compliance with the INEC designated venues for the CVR exercise which is the Ward Headquarters and the “complete restriction of transfer of voters from neighbouring states during the CVR exercise”.
Responding, the Edo State Government described as baseless accusations and untrue statements, claims by the APC that the PDP planned to rig the election by mobilising underage voters during the registration exercise.
The commissioner said his principal, Governor Godwin Obaseki, remained committed to upholding the principles of democracy in the forthcoming poll.
“Instead of the APC empathizing with the electoral umpire for the damage done to it office as a result of the torrential rain of Friday night, they are sauntering around with arrogant statements, grandstanding, and demanding the cancellation of an exercise that is meant to allow the registration of unregistered voters over baseless claims of compromised INEC officials and biased ad hoc staff,” Nehikhare said.
“The APC must know that for this forthcoming election, there will be neither rigging nor writing of results.
“As a government, we are committed to upholding the principles of democracy and ensuring that every eligible person in the State has the opportunity to register and exercise their franchise. We reject any attempts to undermine the electoral process and will continue to work closely with INEC and other stakeholders to facilitate a transparent and credible voter registration exercise.”
The forthcoming governorship election in the state has top contenders including Olumide Akpata of the Labour Party, PDP’s Asue Ighodalo and APC’s Monday Okpebholo.
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