The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has urged stakeholders, including the electorate, candidates and politicians, among others, to eschew all forms of electoral misconduct including violence, vote buying and vote trading on election day.
The Oyo State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Dr Adeniran Tella, who made the call at an enlarged stakeholders’ meeting, held in Ibadan, the state capital, ahead of the Presidential and National Assembly elections coming up on Saturday, admonishing eligible voters to confirm their voting locations before Election Day and vote for candidates of their choice.
He affirmed that voters could locate and confirm their polling units by sending an SMS showing the name of the state, last name and last 6 digits of Voter Identification Number (VIN) to 09062830860 or 09062830861 or on the INEC website, by visiting www.voters.inecnigeria.org or www.crv. inecnigeria.org/vvs.
Tella noted that INEC began preparations for the 2023 General Election since the conclusion of the 2019 General Election, by increasing the total number of polling units in the state from 4,783 to 6,390 and embarking on the Continuous Voters Registration (CVR) exercise to accommodate those who had not registered or whose Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) got lost/defaced, among others.
He stated: “The total number of old PVCs collected was 2,088,558, while the total number of collected new/fresh registration PVCs was 236,814. However, the total PVCs so far collected, including both old and new/fresh registration was 2,325,372. We have a total number of 3,276.675 eligible registered voters in Oyo State.”
The REC also reported that the Commission, in collaboration with the Nigeria Police Force, had organised a Peace Accord among all the 18 political parties’ governorship candidates in the state and held periodic meetings with all members of the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES) to ensure adequate security in the state during the elections.
Tella noted that the Commission had been saddled with the online recruitment and training of both ad-hoc and staff members ahead of the polls and implored political parties and candidates to keep to the rules and regulations of campaign activities as the elections draw closer, adding that the Commission had met with all members of the transport unions in the state to discuss logistics and transport plan.
He stated: “I am glad to inform you that our discussion with these transport unions has been positive with the hope that a contractual agreement will be sealed very soon; non-sensitive materials have been received in the state and deployed to their respective 33 INEC Local Government Area offices.”
The REC said the Commission had introduced innovations facilitated by technology, such as Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) to be used for voter verification and accreditation and to upload Polling Unit election results, expected to be viewed via INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) on www.inecelectionresults.ng, for transparency.
Tella noted: “Assistive materials, such as Braille Ballot Guide, transcribed voter information in Braille for the blind, magnifying glass for the albinos, posters for hard to hear electorate have been provided accordingly. People Living with Disabilities (PWDs) are to be given priority including pregnant women and the elderly, on Election Day.”
Stakeholders present at the meeting include representatives of political parties, security agencies, Civil Society Organisations, the Inter-Party Advisory Council, the National Orientation Agency, traditional rulers and religious leaders.
The stakeholders unanimously commended INEC for a job well done, called for peaceful elections and urged the electorate to come out en-masse and vote as there is the assurance that their votes would count, while the security agents declared 100% synergy and their readiness for the elections.
N.O
