By Gabriel  Enogholase

BENIN –  WITH barely 10 days to the April 2011 general elections in the country, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Wednesday admitted that the primary elections of most of the political parties were massively rigged by some interested groups  within the parties.

The Commission also admitted that some of the party primaries were already concluded with pre-determined results written before its officials  arrived the  venues of the primaries to monitor the exercises as observers.

INEC said since it was an observer to the said primaries, it lacked the power to indict those allegedly involved in perpetrating electoral malpractice since party primaries were directly the affairs of the political parties, adding that it however made reports to the appropriate quarters.

Edo State Resident Electoral Commissioner of INEC, Dr. (Mrs.) Rose Obuoforibo made the disclosure in Benin on Wednesday at an interactive session with stakeholders.

She explained the procedures involved in the Modified Open Ballot System which INEC has adopted for the April election, noting that in polling units were the number of votes exceeds the total number of accredited voters, such result would be cancelled and fresh election conducted.

The Resident Electoral Commissioner told stakeholders that accreditation would be between the hours of 8am to 12 noon on voting days after which the accredited voters would start to cast their votes.

She revealed that the electoral body would make use of surveillance cameras to capture events at each voting centre including the activities of unscrupulous elements who are bent on discrediting the election.

Dr. Obuoforibo disclosed that about 21 political parties would be participating in the elections in Edo State which has 2629 polling units and 192 collation centres just as he said that the  training of ad-hoc staff to work as electoral officials for the commission was in progress.