…as INEC moves 12 RECs, five national commissioners to state
The Inspector General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba, has deployed 21,000 officers and men in Osun State for Saturday’s governorship election in the state.
Also, the Independent National Electoral Commission has moved 12 Resident Electoral Commissioners and five National Commissioners to the state for the election.
INEC had on Tuesday warned the electorate in Osun State to shun inducement during Saturday’s election in the state.
It gave the warning in Osogbo, the state capital, during stakeholders meeting organised by INEC and attended by governorship candidates and representatives of political parties, traditional rulers and senior security operatives.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, while speaking during the stakeholders’ meeting organised by the Commission and attended by governorship candidates and representatives of political parties, traditional rulers and senior security operatives, assured participants of the readiness of the Electoral body for Saturday’s election.
He reassured political parties of the neutrality of INEC, adding that only the electorate will determine who wins the election.
Yakubu said INEC had learnt lessons from the issues that arose during the conduct of the 2018 governorship election in the state.
The INEC chairman said, “With every election, we learn lessons and every subsequent election there is improvement on the previous election. Yes we agree that there were issues in the Osun governorship election in 2018, but we have learnt lessons from that election and that’s why this time around we are deploying five National Commissioners and 12 RECs to support the process being handled by our state office. So we have learnt lessons and you’re going to see much improved process in 2022.
“For us in INEC, let me reassure political parties, candidates and the electorate that the choice of who becomes the next governor of Osun State is entirely in the hands of voters.
“As I have repeatedly said in previous engagements with stakeholders, INEC will not take any action to the advantage or disadvantage of any political party or candidate. Our focus is on the processes and procedures as provided by law.”
Yakubu also said that INEC had already successfully implemented 12 out of 14 activities contained in the Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the election.
The only two outstanding activities, according to him, are the last day of campaign by political parties which ends at midnight on Thursday 14th July and Election Day activities on Saturday 16th July.
He described the election as significant in many respects, saying it’s the last major off-cycle election before the 2023 general elections, which is 227 days or seven months and five days away.
The INEC boss assured that that the Commission will not take any action to the advantage or disadvantage of any political party or candidate.
Yakubu disclosed that of the 1,955,657 registered voters in Osun State, 1,479,595 (or 76%) have collected their voter’s cards as at Sunday 10th July and that the commission is updating its records to provide detailed breakdown of PVCs collected by polling units, which would be concluded and made available on Friday 15th July.
He said, “This is important because the total number of PVCs collected will be used to determine the margin of lead principle, as against the total number of registered voters in line with our Regulations and Guidelines for the Conduct of Elections 2022 derived from the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022.”