Inec issues new guidelines on ondo and Edo elections

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has released a new guideline on the conduct of the Edo and Ondo states governorship elections, as well as nine bye-elections across seven states of the federation. National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee of INEC, Festus Okoye, said this Thursday night at the end of the commission’s management meeting. He said the commission approved its “Policy on Conducting Elections in the Context of COVID-19 Pandemic” and that the general purpose of the policy was to enable officials and staff of INEC understand and respond adequately to the challenges of conducting elections in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and to provide a guide for engagement with stakeholders as they prepare for elections. 

According to him, the clean copy of the policy document, which will be released on Monday 25th May 2020, covers health and legal issues, election planning and operations, election day and post-election activities, voter registration, political parties, election observation, electoral security and deployment of technology. “Conducting elections in a pandemic such as COVID-19 is yet uncharted waters. Only very few jurisdictions have any experience with this. “That notwithstanding, the commission is committed to conducting all elections that are due within the extant legal framework. “However, in so doing it will put a premium on public safety and mitigation of health risks from COVID-19. Citizens must be assured that they will be safe while participating as voters, candidates and officials,” Okoye said.