Edo Decides 2020: INEC Insures Ad-Hoc Staffs Against Election Hazard

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has revealed that it has insured its staff and 20,974 adhoc staffs that will be working at the Edo governorship election come September 19, 2020.

Making this disclosure, Festus Okoye, INEC National Commissioner and Chairman of its Information and Voter Education Committee during an interview on Saturday said that its officials would be insured against deaths and other election hazards.

There have been a series of predictions that the states' Governorship election may be marred by violence, a development that has prompted the INEC, security agencies, prominent individuals, and organizations to sue for peace.

Read Also: Edo Decides 2020: Oshiomhole Accused of Threatening Shaibu's Wife

The two major contenders of the 14 political parties that will be contesting at the election All Progressives Congress (APC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have continued to accuse each other of planning to foment trouble during the exercise.

AllNews had earlier reported how the Oba of Benin, Oba Ewuare II, invited the candidate of the PDP, Governor Godwin Obaseki; that of the APC, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, and some other party chieftains for a peace meeting.

In the meeting with the candidates, their running mates, and other stakeholders at his palace, the monarch described some of their utterances and activities during the electioneering as immature.

Many previous elections across the country have been marred by violence, during which some election officers were killed.

Assuring election officials of the commission's commitment to ensuring their safety during the election, Okoye said

 “All the ad hoc staff engaged by the commission for the purposes of the Edo and Ondo governorship elections will be covered by insurance and it’s comprehensive insurance covering deaths, accidents and other election hazards.

"It’s a group insurance that covers every individual given a contract by the commission as ad hoc staff. The staff of the commission are already covered and there is no need to cover them a second time.”

According to Okoye,  corps members would be deployed as Presiding Officers and students of federal tertiary institutions as Assistant Presiding Officers.

 “The commission will deploy a total of 20,974 election officials in Edo State. We have 18 Local Government Areas in Edo State, so there will be 18 Local Government Collation Officers; 192 Registration Area Collation Officers, 263 Supervisory Presiding Officers and 2,627 Presiding Officers.

“The commission will also engage a total of 13,557 Assistant Presiding Officers and 3,259 Presiding Officers (Voting Points) and we will also engage not less than 841 Reserves. There will be one Returning Officer for the election. There are 2,627 polling units and a registered voter population of 2,210,534. Our training programme has been robust and we are confident that our trainers have done a good job."

The commission further revealed that of the  2.2 million registered voters in the state, only 1.72 million had collected their permanent voter cards, while 484,000 persons who did not collect theirs would not vote.