INEC has extended Osun PVC collection to July 31 and deployed 4,427 BVAS machines ahead of the August 15 governorship election.
The Independent National Electoral Commission extended the collection of Permanent Voter Cards in Osun State to Friday, July 31, to accommodate more voters ahead of the August 15 governorship election. INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan SAN, announced the extension at a stakeholders meeting in Osogbo on Wednesday.
“The ballot box, and not the bullet, will determine the outcome of the forthcoming Osun State governorship election, as INEC will not allow the will of the electorate to be subverted by violence or intimidation,” a commission statement read.
Osun State has a total of 2,339,233 registered voters spread across 30 local government areas, 332 registration areas, and 3,763 polling units, with 14 political parties contesting the election. Amupitan told the meeting INEC had completed a comprehensive readiness audit and was fully prepared to conduct a credible poll.
As of Tuesday, 322,822 newly registered voters, representing 60 percent, had collected their PVCs. The commission extended the collection deadline to Friday, July 31, to enable those who had not yet collected their cards to do so.
Amupitan confirmed attacks on two INEC facilities in Odo Otin and Ife Central within the past week, during which uncollected PVCs were stolen. He assured voters, however, that the stolen cards could not be used, because each card requires the legitimate owner’s live biometric verification through the BVAS machine before any accreditation is completed.
Affected voters, he added, would receive reprinted or downloadable PVCs as replacements. On election technology, the commission announced the successful customization and deployment of 4,427 Bimodal Voter Accreditation System devices for the August 15 election. The deployment includes 664 dedicated backup units, representing a 15 percent operational reserve, stationed at Registration Area Centers and managed by specialized RACTECH officers.
Amupitan disclosed that voting would commence at 8.30 a.m. on election day, while Registration Area Centers would open from noon on August 14 to allow the deployment of personnel, election materials, and security operatives before polling begins.
Electoral officers whose local government areas failed to begin accreditation by 8.30 a.m. on election day would be held accountable, he warned. A mock accreditation exercise is scheduled for August 1 across four local government areas, one drawn from each senatorial district.
On security planning, Amupitan said he would meet with security agencies to facilitate the deployment of patrol vehicles to PVC collection centers. INEC also integrated an electoral risk management framework into its planning, working with the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security and development partners to identify flashpoints requiring enhanced security deployment.
The Resident Electoral Commissioner for Osun State, Mrs. Oluwatoyin Babalola, confirmed that the commission had completed 11 of the 13 activities on the election timetable, with only the end of campaigns and the conduct of the election itself remaining. All sensitive election materials had arrived in the state and were being secured at the Central Bank of Nigeria office in Osogbo.
Non-sensitive materials had already been distributed to all 30 local government areas, Babalola added. The 14 political parties participating in the election are scheduled to sign a Peace Accord on Thursday, July 30, under the auspices of the National Peace Committee and the Inter-Party Advisory Council.
On inclusivity, INEC announced Braille ballot guides for visually impaired voters, magnifying glasses for voters with albinism and low vision, and priority queues for persons with disabilities, pregnant women, nursing mothers, and the elderly. These measures were outlined by Amupitan at the Osogbo meeting.
On vote buying, the commission disclosed it was working with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, and the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit to tackle both cash-based and digital vote buying. Plainclothes anti-corruption officers would monitor polling unit perimeters on election day, Amupitan stated.
The Osun State Commissioner of Police, Ibrahim Gotan, who represented Inspector-General of Police Tunji Disu at the meeting, assured residents that security agencies would remain neutral and professional throughout the election. Gotan warned politicians and supporters against vote buying and other electoral offenses, stating that anyone found violating the Electoral Act would be arrested and prosecuted, regardless of political affiliation or status.
INEC deployed 4,427 BVAS devices, extended PVC collection to July 31, and assured Osun voters that stolen PVCs cannot be used to vote, as the commission positions the August 15 Osun governorship election as a test of its electoral management capacity at the national level.
