Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), yesterday, said it has lifted ban on campaigns by political parties ahead of the September 19 governorship election.
INEC Head of Voter Education in Edo, Timidi Wariowei, told newsmen in Benin that the campaigns officially commenced on June 21.
“Campaigns have officially started in the state. Campaigns starts 90 days to election and it started on June 21,” Wariowei said.
He also disclosed that the office had taken delivery of some non-sensitive materials and distributed same to the 18 local government areas of the state.
“The reason we distributed materials early is because the office we are occupying now has a small storage capacity.
“The storage facility cannot accommodate all the materials, so as the materials come we dispatch to our local government offices.
“The non-sensitive materials, we have received so far, are not complete so as they come in batches, we distribute because of lack of space to keep them,” he said.
According to Wariowei, the total registered voters as at 2019 is 2,210,534, while uncollected personal voter cards stands at 483,868.
INEC has cleared and displayed list of candidates of 14 registered political parties, including the All Progressives Party and Peoples Democratic Party being the major contenders, ahead of the poll.