The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), on Tuesday, identified vote buying and certain issues that may serve as major obstacles ahead of the 2023 General Elections, if not addressed early.
The Oyo State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) of INEC, Dr Mutiu Agboke, gave the warning, on Tuesday, during his valedictory media briefing which held at the Oyo State INEC Headquarters, Agodi, Ibadan.
Agboke, whose mandatory five-year tenure as REC with the Commission terminates on Wednesday, said vote buying, amongst other issues, remain a major concern for the Commission in preparation towards the 2023 General Elections.
He, however, gave the assurance that INEC is working with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to ensure the prosecution of persons arrested in the recent Ekiti Governorship election, which he said has caused assault on Nigeria’s democracy.
Agboke added that action would commence as soon as the EFCC completes its investigation, urging all security agencies and political class to continue to join hands with the Commission to tackle the menace.
Other obstacles to major elections, as identified by he outgoing Oyo REC, include: transportation of men and materials, issues of logistics, late opening of polling units, technical challenges, payment of ad-hoc staff and security challenges.
Particularly, he said within the four and half years he served as REC in Oyo State, the problem of transportation of men and materials were usually created by the proscribed National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), noting that now that the Union had been proscribed in the state, the Commission would have to source for vehicles elsewhere to move men and materials on election days.
The outgoing INEC REC further appealled to the media to be factual, objective and professional in reporting the coming general elections in the state.
He also urged the media to encourage the electorate to collect their unclaimed PVCs, adding that the introduction of BVAS by the Commission, which he described as a game changer, would put an end to snatching of ballot boxes and forging of election results in the electoral process.
Reelling out his achievements while he held sway in the state, Agboke said the Commission has given the electorate in the state value for their votes by ensuring that their vote counted in various elections in the state, saying though the people of the state initially doubted the Commission’s sincerity in making their votes count, but INEC’s credibility was enhanced in all ramification.
He urged residents of the state to collect their Permanent Voters Card (PVC), which he said is key to the participation of any voter in the upcoming election, adding that the current voting system is such that without PVC, no electorate would be allowed to vote under any condition, as INEC has phased out the use of Smart Card Reader and Incident Forms.
Agboke affirmed that the Commission would ensure transparent, credible, free and fair 2023 General Elections, while disclosing that within the period of his stay, the Commission converted additional 1,607 polling units to the initial 4,783 polling units to make a total of 6,399 polling units in the state.
He revealed that those who registered or carried out other CVR activities during the first and second quarters of 2021 have their PVCs readily available for collection at the 33 INEC Local Government Area offices.
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