Ahead of the September 21 Edo state governorship election, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has expressed readiness and strong commitment to conducting a free fair and credible election in the state.

The INEC Chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, who gave this assurance in  Benin City today, after assessing the level of readiness by the staff the commission in the state, said INEC is not a political party and it does not have a preferred candidate in the election.

He said the responsibility of chosing the next governor of Edo state rested entirely in the hands of Edo voters, assuring all registered voters in the state to come out en masse to vote for the party and candidate of their choice.

He added that the commission would always protect the integrity of the process and uphold the choice made by the electorate. 

Prof Yakubu who visited three local governments – Oredo, Egor and Ikpeoba Okha- expressed satisfaction with all the levels of preparation at the INEC offices as well as the two centres visited for the mock accreditation exercise, said the commission was good to go.

He however admitted that there were little logistic issues that needed to be addressed adding that his meeting with the Electoral Officers in the 18 local government areas of the state was aimed at harvesting the issues with a view to addressing them.