Votes ‘ll Count In Ekiti, Osun Governorship Polls, INEC Reassures Nigerians

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says votes will count in the governorship elections in Ekiti and Osun States,  billed for June 18 and July 16 respectively.
INEC National Commissioner in charge of Information, Voter Education and Publicity, Mr Festus Okoye, told The Tide source in Lagos yesterday that the elections  would be litmus test for the 2023 general elections.
Okoye said that preparations were on top gear to deliver free, fair, transparent and inclusive elections in Ekiti and Osun States.
According to him, the commission is not taking anything for granted in the preparations for the polls.
The INEC spokesman said  the commission remained  confident of the optimal performance of the accreditation machines, the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS).
“We are holding meetings and putting together strategies and tactics of making sure INEC conducts free, fair and transparent elections in both states.
“We are confident that whatever issues there are with the BVAS have been resolved,  and we are expecting to have a very good accreditation process at  the  elections.
“Those two elections  may likely be the only off season governorship election that we are going to conduct before the 2023 general elections.
“We are preparing and preparing well and we are preparing very hard,” he added.
Okoye said  the new Electoral Act 2022 that had come into force, would strengthen the commission to conduct a very good election.
According to him, because of the creative and innovative approaches INEC has adopted in the conduct of elections, there are so many people in Ekiti and Osun States who believe that their votes will count and that the votes will be made to count.
“With the introduction of BVAS , people believe that ghosts will not come to vote. People believe that those who have quarantined Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) will not be in   a position to use them. So, only the living will cast their votes in Osun and Ekiti.
“We are putting everything in place to make sure that we conduct a good election in both states. We are preparing for these two elections and we are preparing well,” Okoye added.
On riverine areas in Osun, Okoye said the commission was in discussion with the marine union and Nigerian Navy for logistics and security.
According to him, the commission has also started the process of recruitment of ad hoc staff that will be used for the two elections.
On efforts to prevent recurrent trend of voter apathy  at the  Ekiti and Osun governorship  polls, Okoye urged political parties to join the commission in voter mobilisation.
“The conduct of elections and management of elections and ensuring that elections are free, fair, transparent and inclusive remain a multi stakeholder venture.
“No individual, no agency and no commission can do it alone. The main task of voter mobilisation still  remains with political parties.
“So, the political parties must mobilise these voters to the polling units because the voters are to vote for them. Parties must do their own bit in terms of voter mobilisation.