Ahead of the Osun State governorship election, thee Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said it does not want to conduct inconclusive election in the state.
Recall that the last governorship election in the state in 2018 which produced the incumbent governor, Gboyega Oyetola, was initially declared inconclusive under controversial circumstances.
But speaking during an implementation programme on voter’s education organised by INEC for electoral officers and assistants drawn from each of the 30 local government areas in the state in Osogbo on Wednesday, Professor Abdulganiyu Raji, the state’s resident electoral commissioner, said the commission would not want any disruption that could lead to an inconclusive election.
He assured that INEC would conduct a poll where everyone would be carried along.
According to him, said after the programme, the selected officers that had been trained would return to their respective council areas and train staff under them.
He assured the commission was making efforts to ensure that it followed standard procedure in the conduct of the forthcoming governorship poll and assured that the body would ensure it remained non-partisan for the election to be transparent.
He said, “We don’t want disruption during the election; we don’t want an inconclusive election. And we are going to conduct an inclusive election where every set of people will be carried along.
“Gender, the less privileged, aged people, people with disabilities, is inclusiveness. This enlightenment and sensitisation are the exercises we are starting right from today.”
Commenting on the collection of Permanent Voters Cards, Raji said many PVCs had not been collected. The reason for such apathy was not known, even after necessary publicity had been done.
“We have over 370,000 PVCs, which are yet to be collected for those between 2011 and 2018. But for those who have just registered, you know the exercise took place in over three quarters, first, second and third quarters between June 2021 and March, this year.
“PVCs for those registered during the first and the second quarter, that is June till December 2021, is ready with us. However, we are waiting for the delivery of the ones for the third quarter this week; that is why we have not rolled out the PVCs,” Raji concluded