The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has assured residents of Osun State that Saturday’s governorship election will be free, fair, transparent and credible as preparations for the poll enter their final stage.
The assurance came on Thursday as sensitive election materials, including ballot papers and result sheets, arrived in Osogbo, the state capital.
The materials were delivered to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) office in Osogbo ahead of their distribution across the state on Friday.
The ballot papers and result sheets were reprinted following a court judgment directing INEC to include the candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) on the ballot, bringing the number of candidates contesting the election to 15.
The election will be conducted across 332 wards in the state’s 30 local government areas.
National Commissioner and Chairman of INEC’s Information and Voter Education Committee, Mohammed Haruna, said the commission was fully prepared for the exercise.
“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,” Haruna said.
INEC disclosed that 1,906,390 of the 2,339,233 registered voters in the state had collected their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs), representing 81.5 per cent of registered voters.
The remaining 432,843 PVCs, representing 18.5 per cent, have been deposited with the CBN in line with the commission’s established procedure.
The commission also said 6,101 voters who applied to replace damaged, defaced or lost PVCs had printed downloadable copies of their cards.
The 15 political parties cleared to participate in the election are Accord, Action Alliance (AA), African Action Congress (AAC), African Democratic Congress (ADC), Action Democratic Party (ADP), All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), All Progressives Congress (APC), Allied Peoples Movement (APM), 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).
