A level playing field for all political parties has been pledged by Nigeria’s electoral body, INEC, ahead of the governorship election in Osun State on July 16.
Mahmood Yakubu, the chairman of the commission, stated on Tuesday that the electorate now has the power to determine who would run the state with just three days left in the political parties’ campaigning period.
On Tuesday, Mr. Yakubu addressed at a stakeholders’ gathering in Osogbo, the capital of Osun State.
“For us in INEC, 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.
“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,” Mr Yakubu reassured parties and candidates.
In a purely male-dominated race, 14 candidates have been put up to run against incumbent Gboyega Oyetola of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the governorship race on Saturday.
Ademola Adeleke of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Yusuf Lasun of the Labour Party (LP), Oyegoke Omigbodun of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), and Akin Ogunbiyi of the Accord Party are prominent opponents of Mr. Oyetola (AP).
Out of the 1,955,657 people who are registered to vote in the state, according to Mr. Yakubu, 1,479,595 have already picked up their PVCs.
He urged everyone who was registered to vote but had not yet picked up their PVCs to take advantage of the new measures.
“We are also updating our records to provide a detailed breakdown of PVCs collected by polling units. This will be concluded and made available on Friday 15th July 2022,” Mr Yakubu said.
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