*1,479,595 eligible voters with PVCs for election

*Assures PWD of friendly systems

The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Mahmood Yakubu, has charged, political parties and the electorate to work towards a free, fair, transparent and inclusive governorship election they desire, come Saturday, July16.

"Let me reassure political parties, candidates and the electorate that the choice of who becomes the next Governor of Osun State is entirely in the hands of voters", he said.

Yakubu gave the charge on Tuesday at a stakeholders' meeting in Osogbo.

The chairman assured that the Commission has made adequate preparations for a successful election.

"The Commission has taken every step and made every arrangement for the successful conduct of the Governorship election this weekend", Yakubu stated.

He added, "the Osun State Governorship election 2022 will hold this Saturday after several months of preparations since the Commission released the Timetable and Schedule of Activities in June last year. The election is significant in many respects, not least because it is also the last major off-cycle election before the 2023 General Election, which is just 227 days (or 7 months and 5 days) away".

He alleyed stakeholders' fear over transparency, inclusivity and security,, saying,

"As was the case in previous elections, various stakeholders would like to be given assurances in two critical areas. First is the transparency, inclusivity and credibility of the election; and, secondly, its security and peaceful conduct. We are taking both issues very seriously. I will speak about our preparations for a free, fair, credible, transparent and inclusive election while I leave the issue of security to the Inspector General of Police.

The chairman reiterated, "As I have repeatedly said in previous engagements with stakeholders, INEC will not take any action to the advantage or disadvantage of any political party or candidate.

"Our focus is on the processes and procedures as provided by law. So far, we have successfully implemented 12 out of 14 activities contained in the Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the election.

"The only two outstanding activities are the last day of campaign by political parties which ends at midnight on Thursday 14th July 2022 and Election Day activities on Saturday 16th July 2022."

He appealed to voters who have yet to collect their PVCs to go and collect them.

He said: "I appeal to all registered voters that are yet to collect their PVCs to seize the opportunity of the additional measures to do so. Many of the PVCs have already been collected by citizens.

"Of the 1,955,657 registered voters in Osun State, 1,479,595 (or 76%) have collected their cards as at Sunday 10th July 2022.

"We are also updating our records to provide detailed breakdown of PVCs collected by polling units. This will be concluded and made available on Friday 15th July 2022".

Yakubu also assured persons with disability of INEC's concern for them,” he said,

“To underscore our commitment to an inclusive, credible and transparent electoral process,” Yakubu said, adding: “The Commission is deploying assistive devices for Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) to have a more pleasant voting experience on Election Day. Magnifying glasses, Braille Ballot Guide and Posters for voters with hard of hearing conditions will be deployed at polling unit level in areas of need based on data collected in collaboration with the PwD community.”

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