Ahead of the Ondo State governorship election on November 16, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, expressed optimism about the commission’s readiness and commitment to a successful election.
During his visit to the INEC state headquarters in Akure, Prof. Yakubu assured voters that efforts were in place to address challenges encountered in previous elections, including the recent Edo State election.
Prof. Yakubu explained that INEC had learned a lot of lessons not only from the last election but also from previous elections.
He highlighted two primary areas of focus: logistics and results management. He emphasized that INEC is determined to open polling units promptly on election day and streamline result management processes for efficiency.
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.”
