The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Thursday said the Edo and Ondo governorship elections will go ahead as scheduled despite the out­break of the COVID-19 pan­demic.

The commission had an­nounced September 19, 2020 and October 10, 2020 for Edo and Ondo States governor­ship elections, respectively.

However, there have been concerns from Nigerians on whether the elections will go ahead owing to the lockdown order in states as a means of preventing the spread of the virus.

After a stakeholders’ meet­ing on Thursday, the commis­sion is set to release fresh mo­dalities for the conduct of the Edo and Ondo governorship elections despite the corona­virus threat.

It also disclosed that it will liaise with health authorities and security agencies on re­sumption of activities in the two states ahead of the elec­tions scheduled for Septem­ber19 and October 10.

Speaking exclusively with Daily Independent on wheth­er the elections may be post­poned, Festus Okoye, INEC’s National Commissioner on Information and Voter Edu­cation Committee, said the elections are constitutionally circumscribed, which means there is a time frame in which they can be conducted.

“The Edo and Ondo gov­ernorship elections are con­stitutionally circumscribed. In other words, Section 178, subsection 1 and 2 of the 1999 constitution of the Fed­eral Republic of Nigeria (as amended) and Section 25, sub-section 7 of the Electoral Act (as amended) have pro­vided clearly the time win­dow within which these two elections must be concluded.

“It said that both elections must be conducted not earli­er than 150 days before the expiration of the tenure of the last holder of the office and not earlier than 30 days before his tenure expires.

“So, the implication is that there is a time frame within which the commission must conduct both elections and this time frame is what we call a constitutional time­frame. The commission can­not change the timeframe; the commission cannot move the timeframe.

“If you look at the Edo governorship election, the tenure of the holder of the of­fice will expire on the 11th of November. The implication is that for whatever reasons, the commission must conduct the governorship election on or before the 13th of October 2020.

“We cannot conduct that election on the 14th day of October 2020 because if we do that, we are running out of the constitutional window. The constitution says we can conduct the election in June, July, August, we can also con­duct it in September.

“That is the constitution­al window within which we can manouvre. Now, we have fixed the Edo election for Sep­tember 19, 2020. Constitution­ally, we can decide to move the election forward by one week, we can decide to move it forward by two weeks, we can also decide to move it forward by three weeks so long as we do not cross over the 13th day of October 2020”, he said.

Meanwhile, the Inde­pendent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has barred pregnant staff of the commission and those above 58 years of age from office, as it begins enforcement of stringent COVID-19 protocol ahead of the first phase of resumption of work on May 13, 2020.

Nursing mothers and staff with underlying illnesses are not expected to resume during the first phase.

The commission took the decision on Thursday, stress­ing that the measures would also apply in the two states of Edo and Ondo where gover­norship poll have been sched­uled.

It said senior staff of the commission and directors would resume first, while gradual engagement of the various political parties ahead of Edo and Ondo guber would commence in earnest.

The commission an­nounced that it would follow the Federal Government guidelines on resumption pro­tocols and procedure, begin­ning with massive decontam­ination of its headquarters, the Area 10 office housing its staff, and the National Demo­cratic Institute.

A communiqué signed by Festus Okoye, INEC Com­missioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Edu­cation, said the commission would also provide infrared thermometers, soap and wa­ter at entrances, and install hand sanitizer dispensers at strategic points in the com­mission.

The step by step measures agreed by the commission include: the training of its staff, particularly the clean­ers and office assistants, on cleaning protocols and strict compliance with Federal Gov­ernment guidelines, as well as its own specific protocols for resumption.

To issue comprehensive guidelines for the first phase of its resumption in compli­ance with the directives of the Federal Government and health authorities.

These guidelines would be posted on its notice boards and uploaded on the website of the commission on Mon­day, May 11.

That directors and oth­er designated staff of the various departments would resume at the national head­quarters on Wednesday, May 13 after the decontamination of the premises and provision of necessary amenities as out­lined earlier in this statement.

Only staff below 58 years of age with no serious under­lying health issues would re­sume, while pregnant women, nursing mothers and all other staff with underlying health conditions should remain at home for the time being.

The commission would work out modalities for the ramping up of activities in two of the states where it has governorship elections (Edo and Ondo) and would liaise with the security agencies and health authorities on re­sumption of work in the two states as soon as possible.

The commission would resume engagement with political parties, civil society groups and organisations, the media, and other stake­holders in relation to the Edo and Ondo governorship elections.

The modalities for these engagements would be worked out and considered at its next meeting on May 14.