Postponement will not affect Edo poll negatively – INEC

The Independent National Electoral Commission on Thursday said that the postponement of the Edo State governorship election to September 28 would not negatively affect the outcome of the poll.

INEC’s Resident Electoral Commissioner in Edo, Mr Sam Olumekun, said this at the commission’s organised Stakeholders’ meeting on the election on Thursday in Benin.

INEC postponed the governorship election from Sept. 10 to Sept. 28 following security advice from the Police and the Department of State Services.

But Olumekun said the commission was ready and willing to conduct free, fair, credible and conclusive election for Edo people.

The REC appealed to all the security agencies to deploy their personnel early enough to man their duty posts.

The Assistant Inspector-General of Police, Zone 5, Benin, Mr Isaac Eke, said that security agencies would do everything humanly possible to give protection to the people during and after the election.

Eke assured all the 19 political parties of a level playing ground during the electoral process.

The newly-deployed Commissioner of Police to Edo, Mr Haliru Gwandu, also appealed to political parties and their supporters to eschew violence and intimidation of electoral officials and ad-hoc staff whose primary duty was to conduct the elections.

Gwandu urged the people to stop seeing election as a do-or-die affair.

“Those who want to invite thugs from neighbouring states should jettison the idea as security operatives are on ground to nip such plans in the bud,’’ he warned.

(NAN)