Ahead of the September 21, 2024, governorship election in Edo State, the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Dr. Anugbum Onuohq, on Thursday met with members of various civil society organisations (CSOs) and persons living with disabilities (PWDs), with the charge that all hands must be on deck towards conducting a free, fair, and credible election.

Dr. Onuoha, who admonished the people to be actively involved in the election process, noted that the meeting was to familiarise himself with all the CSOs and PWDs in the state, which had just resumed as the REC in Edo.

He assured that the commission would not leave any strata of society behind as it prepared for the September governorship election, hence the engagement between the commission and the CSOs and other groups.

He explained that inclusivity was part of INEC’s mandate to ensure that all critical stakeholders were carried along in the electoral process and in the upcoming governorship election in the state.

The Edo INEC Commissioner noted that the CSOs served as a link between the people and government, adding that CSOs help to strengthen public confidence in the electoral process.

Onuoha urged the CSOs to be actively involved in the electoral process by following up on all of INEC’s activities leading up to the governorship election in September.

He said, “The important role you play in our electoral process, such as voter education, cannot be overemphasised. So I am happy that you are here today for us to strengthen our collaborations.

“Do not wait till September to get involved in the process; we want you to be involved in all our activities, beginning with party primaries down to the conduct of the governorship election.

“Sadly, the CSOs are only interested in the election itself, not the process leading to the election.

” I say this because you all were in this state when all the political parties aspirants were campaigning when it was not time to campaign according to INEC guidelines for the election.

“None of you wrote a letter of observation to us or even condemned the actions of the political parties until we had to hold a press conference and several meetings with the political parties before they stopped.

“So this meeting is to encourage you to be actively involved as major and critical stakeholders, ” Onuoha said

Onuoha, who took time to explain INEC’s preparedness ahead of the governorship election in September, said the commission had monitored party primaries, published EC9C in all the local government areas, and carried out training.

He disclosed that the next item on the timetable was a campaign that would commence on April 24, adding that the commission was also ready to monitor the campaigns in the state.

He also charged the CSOs to detach themselves from politics itself and focus on their mandate of being the watchdog and sensitising the public on the importance of having a voter card.

According to him, this meeting is to familiarise the CSOs and PWDs groups in the state and to encourage you all to be actively involved in the process leading to the election.

Mrs Louisa Elkhomun-Agbonkhese, the founder of the Echoes of Women in Africa Initiative, appreciated INEC for the robust engagement, adding that the CSOs were ready to collaborate with the commission for an improved quality election.

Elkhomun-Agbonkhese, while appreciating INEC for starting the election activities on time, urged them to sanction any political party that violates the election guidelines.

According to her, on our own part, we have been carrying out our duties of educating the people on their civic duties. So we have been doing our job.