An election monitoring group, Yiaga Africa, has said it deployed 325 trained and accredited observers to monitor Saturday’s governorship election in Edo State.

Chairperson of the 2024 Edo Election Mission for Yiaga Africa, Dr Aisha Abdullahi, said this at a pre-election news conference on Thursday in Benin City.

She said the observers comprised stationary and roving teams, adding that 300 of them would be stationed at randomly selected samples of polling units across the 18 local government areas, while 25 others would move around.

Ms Abdullahi said the deployment would be done using the Process and Results Verification for Transparency methodology.

She said, “At the end of the polls, Yiaga Africa will also deploy observers to all local government and state collation centres to observe and report the results of the collation process. This deployment will enable Yiaga Africa to provide the most timely and accurate information on the governorship elections in the state. Using the PRVT, Yiaga Africa will also provide an independent projection of voter turnout and estimate the vote shares that each party should receive within a narrow range. If the official results fall within Yiaga Africa’s estimated ranges, it will affirm the accuracy of the ballots cast at the polling units.’’

Urging the electorate to demonstrate resilience by turning up to vote in their respective polling units, Ms Abdullahi called on voters to shun vote buying, intimidation and acts of manipulation before, during, and after the election processes.

She stated, “Yiaga Africa, however, appealed to INEC to demonstrate its capacity to conduct a transparent, credible, and efficient election by managing logistics effectively to enable the early commencement of voting.’’

Ms Abdullahi also urged security agencies to ensure that deployed officers strictly adhered to the code of conduct for election security.

She added, “This includes acting professionally without bias, apprehending electoral offenders, and respecting the rights of citizens, media and observers. They must also guarantee that accredited observers and media practitioners have the right to free movement on election day. ”

She said that security agencies should ensure strategic and neutral deployment of security personnel.

(NAN)