The Independent National Electoral Commission has extended the Permanent Voter Card collection exercise in Osun State to July 31, declaring full readiness for the August 15 governorship election.
The announcement was made on Wednesday by the Chairman of INEC, Prof. Joash Ojo Amupitan (SAN), during the Osun State Governorship Election Stakeholders’ Forum in Osogbo, where the Commission briefed political parties, security agencies, civil society groups and other participants on preparations for the poll.
Amupitan said every major logistical, operational and technological arrangement had been concluded, expressing confidence that the election would reflect the choice of the electorate.
He disclosed that the PVC collection period had been extended to Friday, July 31, to give more eligible voters the opportunity to obtain their cards. He said 322,822 newly registered voters, representing 62 per cent of those registered, had collected their PVCs.
The INEC chairman also announced that a mock accreditation exercise would take place on Saturday, August 1, across 12 selected local government areas to assess the performance of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System before election day.
Earlier, the Resident Electoral Commissioner for Osun State, Mrs. Oluwatoyin O. Babalola, described the stakeholders’ forum as the Commission’s final engagement before the governorship election.
She said the state’s voter register had grown from 1,954,800 to 2,339,233, while all 3,763 BVAS devices designated for the election had been configured and fully charged. She added that 1,328 backup machines had also been prepared for emergency use.
Babalola said non-sensitive election materials had already been distributed to all local government areas, while sensitive materials remained in the custody of the Central Bank of Nigeria in Osogbo. She added that the training of ad hoc personnel would run from July 31 to August 9.
The Supervising National Commissioner for Osun State, Prof. Kunle Ajayi, described the election as a major assessment of Nigeria’s democracy, urging political parties to avoid inflammatory statements, voter intimidation and vote buying.
He warned that anyone who breached the Electoral Act would face legal sanctions and called on security agencies, the media and civil society organisations to discharge their responsibilities with fairness and professionalism.
The forum also featured an interactive session where stakeholders sought clarification on election logistics, security, BVAS deployment, PVC collection and voter accreditation.
Responding to the concerns, Amupitan assured participants that the Commission had put measures in place to conduct a peaceful, transparent, free and credible governorship election on August 15.
After the forum, the INEC chairman led National Commissioners, members of the Commission’s management team and other senior officials to a meeting with members of the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES).