The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) yesterday presented soft copies of voters’ register for the September 22 governorship election in Osun State to the 38 political parties participating in the poll.
The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Mr Olusegun Agbaje, presented the register to representatives of the parties at the INEC office in Osogbo, the state capital.
The REC said some parties had approached him to collect the register individually, but he insisted that the copies must be distributed to all the parties at the same time.
He noted that the presentation of the register was in line with INEC’s guidelines.
Agbaje urged the parties to call the commission’s attention to any wrong they discover in the document.
The REC also assured the parties of INEC’s neutrality, advising them to promptly report any officer of the commission found culpable of wrong doing, including himself, to the national headquarters of the electoral body.
Agbaje gave the parties the details of the efforts INEC had made in compiling the register to ensure a successful election in Osun State.
The REC urged representatives of the political parties to inform INEC about the importance of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) during the election.
He added: “As we speak, majority of non-sensitive materials, which would be used for the conduct of the election, have been received from INEC headquarters in Abuja and distributed to INEC offices across the state.
“Furthermore, 1,152,751 PVCs have been collected by their owners, out of 1,668,524 received in the state, leaving a balance of 515,773 as at August 17.
“It is important for you to help us to inform the people on the need to collect their PVCs during your campaigns and rallies, because without the PVC, nobody would be allowed to vote.”
INEC National Commissioner in charge of Oyo, Osun and Ekiti states, Mr Adedeji Shoyebi, said the presentation was to enable the parties verify the voters and fish out underage persons and foreigners in the list.
The INEC commissioner said it was sad that over 500,000 PVCs had not been collected out of the over 1.6 million produced for registered voters in the state.
He added that about one-third of voters in Osun State had not collected their PVCs and might not vote during the September election.
Shoyebi warned that the commission would not tolerate vote-buying and violence during exercise.
The national commissioner warned that anyone caught perpetrating violence or inducing voters with money would face the full wrath of the law.
He urged the political parties to advise the eligible voters who had not collected their PVCs to do so.
Shoyebi also advised them to sensitise their members, especially youths, to eschew violence during the election.