The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has rejected the submissions of polling and collation agents by several political parties, including the Labour Party (LP) and All Progressives Congress (APC), for the upcoming Edo State governorship election.
The rejections were due to widespread non-compliance with the digital submission requirements.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, confirmed the development during a meeting with political parties in Abuja, emphasizing that the manual method of agent nominations is no longer acceptable.
He emphasized that political parties must adapt to the digital procedure, which has now become the standard for submissions.
Despite prior training sessions and the availability of a help desk, political parties reportedly failed to meet the submission criteria, particularly regarding the quality of images uploaded for Polling Unit, Ward, and Local Government agents.
The APC, LP and ADP each have about 3000+ agents disqualified while the PDP had the lowest with only 141 agents disqualified.
Prof. Yakubu highlighted that while observer groups and media organizations have successfully complied with the digital requirements, political parties must do the same to ensure smooth operations on election day.
He also stressed that the Commission would only produce accreditation tags for agents whose details meet INEC’s guidelines.
Despite training sessions and support, many parties failed to meet the criteria, particularly in submitting quality images for agents.
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While observer groups and media organizations have complied with the new digital standards, political parties have struggled to adapt.
INEC plans to conduct a mock accreditation exercise on September 10, 2024, to test its systems ahead of the election, underscoring its commitment to modernizing the electoral process.
In preparation for the election, INEC plans to conduct a mock accreditation exercise to test the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal.
The test run, scheduled for September 10, 2024, will take place across 12 polling units in six Local Government Areas, representing Edo State’s three senatorial districts.
This move underscores INEC’s determination to modernize Nigeria’s electoral processes, even as it faces resistance from political parties unprepared for the digital transition