Ahead of the September governorship election in Edo State, the Continuous Voter Registration, earlier scheduled to commence on Monday by the Commission, may be halted as the Commission’s headquarters in Benin City, the state capital, was completely flooded as a result of heavy downpour on Friday.
Sam Olumekun, National Commissioner & Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, stated over the weekend that, apart from damaging a section of the building and submerging immovable items, “voter enrollment machines already configured for the forthcoming Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) are affected.”
While allaying fears over the scheduled CVR exercise and commencing moves to secure additional machines from neighboring states, INEC declared that “the State Headquarters will not serve as a registration center as planned. Instead, the exercise will now take place at our Ikpoba Okha LGA office located at 16 Customs Road, off Benin/Auchi Road, Benin City.”
The statement reads in part: “Our Resident Electoral Commissioner for Edo State, Dr. Anugbum Onuoha, has reported that our State Headquarters in Benin City was completely flooded following torrential rainfall on Friday, 24th May 2024. Preliminary assessment shows that the heavy downpour damaged a section of the building.
Movable and immovable items were submerged, including vehicles parked at the premises as well as office furniture and equipment.
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Some of the voter enrollment machines already configured for the forthcoming Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) are affected.
However, the Commission is delivering additional machines from neighboring states to make up for the shortfall.
We are determined to ensure that the CVR in all the 192 Wards across Edo State will proceed on Monday, 27th November 2024, as scheduled.
“However, in view of the emergency situation, the State Headquarters will not serve as a registration center as planned. Instead, the exercise will now take place at our Ikpoba Okha LGA office located at 16 Customs Road, off Benin/Auchi Road, Benin City.
“Meanwhile, the attention of the security agencies and emergency services has been drawn to the incident.”
