Edo guber: INEC discloses political party’s security concerns

The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has disclosed the security concern that cropped up over the upcoming governorship election in Edo State.




The disclosure came from INEC chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu when he appeared before the joint Senate and House of Representatives Committee on Electoral Matters on Thursday.




His appearance was in preparation for the upcoming off-circle governorship elections in Edo and Ondo states.




He said that, at a point, the main concern of the electoral umpire in the Edo governorship election was security.




“When we were there, one of the political parties raised an issue in Edo about the likely deployment of the Edo State Security Network, ESSN. But immediately after we received the complaint, we headed to the office of the Commissioner of Police and summoned a meeting with all security agencies in Edo,” he said.




Prof. Yakubu said that INEC agreed to meet with all political parties.




“The Commissioner of Police told us and the party leaders that he would take up the matter with the state government. The issue at that time was the ongoing continuous voter registration and since then, I am not aware of any official complaints from any party or candidate on the role of the ESSN,” he said.