Ondo poll: We won’t repeat Edo mistakes – INEC

Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, has expressed optimism that the Ondo State governorship election would be a successful exercise.

Yakubu particularly said the commission had learned its lessons from the Edo State governorship election and previous elections in the areas of logistics and results management.

The chairman stated this on Monday during his visit to the state headquarters of the commission in Akure.

He said, “We have learnt a lot of lessons not only from the last election but also from previous elections. There are two challenges, the first one is logistics for the election so that polling units open promptly on election day.

“The second one is result management and my assurance  to voters in Ondo State is that they will see fast improvement in these two processes.”

On his mission to the state, the INEC boss said he was in Ondo to assess the preparation of the state office of the commission, ahead of the November 16 poll.

He said, “We have received positive reports from our state office in Akure but also decided to come for a readiness assessment.

“So, we are here basically to look at what is happening and the good work that the state office has done, we are going to meet with the stakeholders including political parties, civil society organisations, the media, and security agencies and we are also going to meet with our staff to assess our readiness.

“We will be here for a few days. One of the activities we are also going to observe is the mock accreditation of voters which will take place in 16 polling units across six local government areas in the three senatorial zones of the state.

“In addition to other activities, we are also  going to meet with the stakeholders on Thursday, and the following day, the National Peace Committee will also invite all the stakeholders for the signing of the national peace accord.”