The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) for Osun State, Professor AdulGaniy Raji has lamented the apathy of Osun residents towards collection of their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs).
The REC made his feelings known, on Wednesday, in a Personality Interview Programme of the Osun State Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ).
Raji noted that out of more than 230,000 unclaimed PVCs already taken to INEC local government offices throughout the state since June 2021, only 397 of that number had since been claimed.
“We do not know what is responsible for this and cannot fathom why people are not coming to collect their PVCs. We usually sensitize them on the need to collect those PVCs everytime the opportunity presents itself”.
“In fact, to ensure that those cards get to their respective owners, we have mandated our voter education and publicity officers to move around local government areas, to tell people that their PVCs are available for collection. Yet, only a paltry number come to pick up their cards.”
“Although some people say it is possible that those cards belong to students studying in the state who might have completed their studies and left, we nonetheless hold the view that only students could not have taken up that huge number”.
“However, we are working on more pragmatic ways of making people collect those PVCs, so that they can participate in the electoral process,” he said.
Innovations at INEC
With regard to arrangements for a hitch free gubernatorial election in the state, Raji said new technology in the form of Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) would be deployed to aid quick accreditation.
He explained that BVAS was designed to ensure full voter authentication on Election Day, such that where fingerprint authentication failed, facial authentication would be used.
The Resident Electoral Commissioner disclosed that INEC now has a Gender and Inclusivity Department to cater to gender issues and people living with disabilities (PWD) to ensure their full participation in the electoral process.
He added that the Commission had developed brail ballot papers for the blind and that it would deploy sign language experts to polling units on election day, adding that polling units that were previously difficult for PWDs to access had all been relocated for easy access.
Readiness for July 16 Guber polls
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) REC for Osun State reiterated the Commission’s commitment to delivering a free, fair and credible governorship election to the people of Osun come July 16 2022.
He noted that since the preparation of the Commission in the state had reached top gear, it was poised to prosecute the forthcoming governorship election in the state without hassles.
Raji said all the materials needed for the election were ready with the exception of sensitive materials like ballot papers and result sheets, whose colours and design must be closely guarded and would only be released very close to the election.
The Resident Electoral Commissioner also revealed that new polling units had been created in the state to cater to more voters, reduce voting time and aid result collation.
Dominica Nwabufo
