Ahead of Saturday’s governorship election in Osun State, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has vowed to conduct a free, fair and transparent election.
“The Commission reassures political parties, civil society organisations, media and the good people of Osun State of its total readiness to conduct a free, fair, credible, transparent, and inclusive election,” National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Mohammed Haruna, said yesterday
In demonstration of its readiness for the election, ballot papers and result sheets arrived in Osogbo, the state capital.
The materials were sent to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) office, from where they will be distributed to other parts of the state today.
The ballot papers and result sheets were reprinted following a court judgment which ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to put the name of the candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) on the ballot.
With this addition, 15 candidates are now in the race.
The election will hold in 332 wards spread across 30 local government areas.
INEC confirmed that 1,906,390 eligible voters out of the 2,339,233 registered voters in Osun State are qualified to vote.
Haruna said the figure represents the number of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) collected, representing 81.5 per cent.
He added: “The remaining 432,843 PVCs, representing 18.50 per cent, have been safely deposited with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), in line with the Commission’s established practice.
“Similarly, it should be noted that some persons with damaged, defaced or lost PVCs applied for replacement of their cards. A total of 6,101 among those who applied printed downloadable copies of their PVCs.
“A table of the PVCs collected, Polling Unit by Polling Unit (PU), has been published on the Commission’s website.”
The parties cleared to participate in the election are Accord (A), Action Alliance (AA), African Action Congress (AAC), African Democratic Congress (ADC), Action Democratic Party (ADP), All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), All Progressives Congress (APC) and Allied Peoples Movement (APM).
Others are Action Peoples Party (APP), Boot Party (BP), New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), Social Democratic Party (SDP), Young Progressive Party (YPP) and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP).
Meanwhile, President Bola Tinubu has urged stakeholders, including candidates, party leaders, the electorate, security officers and INEC, to be committed to a credible and peaceful poll.
In the run-up to the election, there have been reports of violence leading to the death of no fewer than 30 people, according to non-governmental organisations (NGOs) tracking the situation.
Yesterday, the police confirmed that a nephew of the Director-General of the APC campaign organisation and member of the House of Representatives, Wole Oke, was shot dead in Esa-Oke.
The President, who reiterated his commitment to democracy, told the huge crowd at the APC grand rally at Freedom Park, Osogbo, the state capital, that the state would be better under the leadership of the party’s candidate, Asiwaju Munirudeen Bola Oyebamiji (AMBO).
President Tinubu, who was represented by Senate President Godswill Akpabio, urged voters to vote for the APC to savour development and progress.