INEC accredits 134 observer groups for Edo, Ondo elections

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has accredited 134 observer groups for Edo and Ondo governorship elections.

The commission disclosed this in a statement by its National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun, in Abuja on Monday.

Mr Olumekun said 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 and eight are faith-based.

“Ten foreign and over 100 others working in areas relevant to the functions of INEC, most of them with previous experience of election observation,” he said.

Mr Olumekun advised the accredited organisations to upload the personal details and photographs of their field observers to the INEC dedicated portal established for that purpose.

He said to that end, INEC was organising one-day training for representatives of observer groups on Wednesday at the commission’s conference room in Abuja at 10 a.m.

Mr Olumekun said that access Code to the portal and letters of accreditation would be given to representatives of the accredited organisations at the training venue.

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He said that details of the one-day training as well as the comprehensive list of all the 134 accredited groups have been uploaded to the INEC website and social media platforms for action by the concerned organisations and for public information.

The Edo State governorship election has been scheduled to be held on 21 September, while that of Ondo State will be held on Saturday 16 November.