Oyo State is the first in the federation to request for the use of Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, BVAS, from the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC for its local government election coming up on April 27, 2024.
This was disclosed by the Chairman, Oyo State Independent Electoral Commissioner, OYSIEC, Aare Isiaka Olagunju, SAN, during a chat with the commissioner for information, Prince Dotun Oyelade.
Unfortunately, INEC is yet to grant the request of the state commission.
According to Aare Olagunju, the commission will go to any length to ensure transparency as he has assured executive members of Inter-Party Advisory Council, IPAC, during a meeting that all eligible votes will count in the April 27, 2024 local government election.
He said unlike that of 2021 where there was boycott by major political parties, all the 19 political parties are participating this time.
The OYSIEC Chairman said 6,390 polling units are on ground for the local government election.
On the recruitment of ad-hoc staff for the local government election, Aare Olagunju disclosed that 38,370 candidates applied for various ad-hoc positions following the application process which run from 31st of January 2024 through 15th February 2024.
He said the minimum qualification for assistant presiding officer in this year’s election is OND or NCE instead of Secondary School Leaving Certification.
He stated that all applications are currently being reviewed to select competent and credible ad-hoc staff.
“There is a situation room for the election where all issues on the day of election will be looked into; a platform similar to that of INEC Results Viewing, IReV, which provides information to aid election transparency, as results are being uploaded from the polling units.” He said.
Expressing his confidence in the readiness of OYSIEC to deliver a credible election, the IPAC Oyo State Chairman, Otunba Adegbenro Fagbemi, said all candidates and political parties should go to the polls and test their popularity.
The OYSIEC Chairman, Aare Olagunju called on election managers, political parties, the voters and security agencies to work together with OYSIEC to stand against whoever breaches electoral laws for a credible election.
He said OYSIEC is in liaison with the security agencies to give maximum cooperation before, during and after the election.
The OYSIEC Chairman said, although OYSIEC is not eligible to register voters, the INEC voters registration list of May 2023 will be employed for this year’s local government election.
He said anyone who has not been registered to vote by INEC will not be able to participate in the local government election as only the National Voter’s Card will qualify voters for this election.