Kazeem Badmus
AS the State of Osun gears towards next year’s gubernatorial election, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has disclosed that it has recorded about 66,239 fresh voters in the state.
The Head of Operations of INEC in the state, Mr. Tope Ayeleso, made the disclosure on Monday while speaking to newsmen in Osogbo.
According to Ayeleso, the registration exercise will continue till May, 2022 and the Permanent Voter Cards will be given out before the election.
He said: “As of today, Monday, we have recorded about 66,239 registered voters here in Osun and we are expecting the cards before the gubernatorial election.”
Speaking on the newly introduced Bi-Modal Voter Accreditation System (BIVAS) machines, Ayeleso said the machine encourages ‘One man, One Vote’, as there is no room for compromise.
He also said the commission will embark on a massive voter education to enlighten voters on the usage of the machine before the election.
Ayeleso explained: “The card reader will take your fingerprint but when any voter comes around to vote and the card reader is rejecting his or her fingerprint but recognises the voters card, the INEC Ad-hoc official on duty can allow the person to vote but in BIVAS, that is not possible.
“BIVAS will not allow you to vote until either your face is recognised or your fingerprint is accepted. You cannot compromise with the use of BIVAS.
“With Bivas, no incident forms again. It encourages ‘one man one vote’. Nobody can use any other person’s voter card on BIVAS because of the facial recognition.
“As far as Osun election is concerned, I don’t think we are going to have any problem. We are also going to conduct training and massive voter education to enable them to know more about the machine”.
