The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has revealed that names of over 44,000 polling and collation agents have been submitted by political parties for the upcoming Edo State governorship election.
In a press release issued on Thursday, Sam Olumekun, the National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, provided details about the submissions.
The Edo governorship election is scheduled for September 21, 2024. According to INEC, the portal for submitting agent details was open from July 17 to July 30, during which 44,687 agents were registered by the 17 participating political parties. This number represents only 55.6% of the 80,410 agents required for the election.
The submissions include 43,043 polling unit agents, 1,452 ward collation agents, 179 local government collation agents, and 13 state collation agents. INEC noted that while three political parties submitted agents at all required levels, one party did not submit any agents.
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“For the Edo State governorship election, the portal opened on July 17, 2024, and automatically shut down at midnight on July 30, 2024, as indicated on item 9 on the Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the election released almost a year ago in September 2023.
“In Edo State, there are 4,519 polling units and 211 collation centres, comprising 192 ward centres, 18 Local Government centres and the State collation centre in Benin city. A political party fielding candidates in the election is expected to nominate 4,730 agents.
“From the 17 parties participating in the election, the commission expected a cumulative figure of 80,410 agents. However, only 44,687 were uploaded to the portal made up of 43,043 polling, 1,452 wards, 179 Local Government and 13 State collation agents. The 17 political parties nominated 55.6 per cent of the expected number of agents.
“Three political parties uploaded the details of their agents for all levels of polling and collation while one party has no single agent for any level of voting or collation,” the statement reads in part.
The election will take place across 4,519 polling units and 211 collation centres, which include 192 ward centres, 18 local government centres, and the state collation centre in Benin City.
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