Ahead of the upcoming governorship election in Edo State, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has defended its decision not to redeploy Anugbum Onuoha, the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) for the state, despite calls for his removal due to his relationship with the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike.
Onuoha’s connection to Wike has raised concerns, with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and other political groups demanding his redeployment to avoid potential bias in the election.
However, INEC has maintained that there is no reason to remove Onuoha, stressing that the election process is transparent and well-regulated, making the calls unwarranted.
Speaking on the matter while speaking with the Daily Trust, Rotimi Lawrence Oyekanmi, the Chief Press Secretary to INEC chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, stated that the REC would remain in his position.
“The REC for Edo State will not be redeployed,” Oyekanmi said, adding that the election process is conducted in polling units, not the REC’s office, thereby ensuring the transparency and integrity of the process are safeguarded.
“The governorship election will be conducted on 21st September 2024 in 4,519 polling units. Polling unit results will be declared by respective Presiding Officers (POs) after voting, sorting and counting, all in the presence of accredited party agents and other stakeholders.
“The POs will also take a picture of the results from each polling unit using the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and upload them to the INEC Result Viewing portal (IReV).”
Oyekanmi also addressed concerns regarding electronic voting, noting that Nigeria’s constitution does not yet recognise it.
“What we are doing with IReV is purely for transparency purposes; it is not electronic voting or electronic transmission of results,” he stated, emphasising that hard copies of the polling unit results will be given to party agents, ensuring all parties have access to the same information.
He reassured that the entire election process, including result collation, will be conducted in the open, with accredited party agents witnessing every step.
“INEC will not give any preference to one political party over another. The integrity of the process is intact, and we encourage all stakeholders to focus on the election process rather than on individuals,” he said.
In response to the PDP’s protest letter, Oyekanmi reminded the public that similar calls for the removal of RECs were made during previous elections, but they had no impact on the credibility of the polls.
“In the past, some politicians had called for the redeployment of RECs, yet the elections were still credible, with some of these individuals even winning those elections,” he pointed out.
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