3 months ago
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The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has urged security agencies to be more vigilant ahead of the governorship elections in Ondo and Edo states.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, made the call on Wednesday at a meeting of the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES).
Yakubu said with electioneering campaigns by political parties ongoing, this is usually a time of concern and anxiety about security as political parties canvass for votes.
According to the INEC chairman, peaceful campaign often heralds a peaceful election, urging political parties, candidates and their supporters to maintain the peace as the election day approaches.
“Party and campaign spokespersons should tone down the negative rhetoric. For the security agencies, this is the time to be more vigilant,” he said.
“You should leave no stone unturned in dealing with any real or potential threat to the conduct of peaceful and transparent elections.
“Already, concerns have been expressed about the possibility of armed state and non-state actors disrupting the processes.
“With just 37 days to the Edo State governorship election and 93 days before voters in Ondo State go to the polls, we should continue to work together to ensure that the training of election officials, logistics for the movement of personnel and materials, polling and collation activities are not disrupted in any way.”
In attendance at the meeting which took place in the INEC conference room, Abuja were the National Security Adviser and Co-Chair of ICCES and the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun.
Others were the National Commissioners of INEC, representatives of security, intelligence, law enforcement and safety agencies, other members of ICCESS, INEC secretary, other senior officials of the commission and members of the INEC press corps.
INEC, meanwhile, had earlier announced the figures of new voters in Edo and Ondo states which have been added to the existing register of voters.
As a result, Edo State now has 2,629,025 voters as against 2,501,081 voters for the 2023 general elections, representing 4.9% increase.
In Ondo State, the current register is 2,053,061 voters as against 1,191,344 for the 2023 general elections, representing 3.0% increase.
In terms of demographics, 1,897,939 (72.2%) of the voters in Edo State are young and middle-aged persons (18-49 years old) while the figure for the same age group in Ondo State is 1,448,926 (70.5%).
The current cumulative figure of voters in the two states is 4,682,086. With a population of 3,346,865, young and middle-aged voters constitute 71.5% of voters in the two states. In terms of occupation, 1,563,702 are students, representing 33.4% of voters.
Similarly, INEC has already published the final list of candidates for the elections in the two states. 17 political parties are fielding 34 governorship candidates and their running mates in Edo and Ondo.
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