July 15, (THEWILL) – The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has accredited a total of 134 groups to monitor the governorship elections in Edo and Ondo States.
The Edo State gubernatorial election has been scheduled for September 21 and that of Ondo in November 2024.
INEC, in a statement issued on Monday, by its Chairman of Information and Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun, said the Commission received a total of 153 applications from interested organisations for this purpose.
Olumekun said out of the 134 accredited observers, 124 are domestic and 10 international groups.
“The classification of the organisations shows that 28 are gender-based, three representing persons with disability, eight are faith-based, 10 foreign and over 100 others working in areas relevant to the functions of INEC, most of them with previous experience of election observation,” he explained.
The National Commissioner stated that the next step would be for the accredited organisations to upload the personal details and photographs of their field observers to INEC’s dedicated portal established for that purpose.
He disclosed that the Commission will organise a one-day training for representatives of the observer groups on Wednesday, July 17, in Abuja.
“Access code to the portal and letters of accreditation will be given to representatives of the accredited organisations at the training venue,” Olumekun added.
He advised concerned organisations to visit INEC’s website and social media platforms for details of the one-day training as well as the comprehensive list of all the 134 accredited groups.
