OGSIEC ASSURES OF FAIRNESS, TRANSPARENCY IN LG POLL

OGSIEC ASSURES OF FAIRNESS, TRANSPARENCY IN LG POLL

… promise to synergise with various security agencies in the state in order to stem violence

The Ogun State Independent Electoral Commission (OGSIEC) has assured that it will be fair, transparent, equitable, even-handed, and unbiased to all political parties and other stakeholders in the forth coming Local Government elections in the State.

Chairman of the Commission, Mr. Babatunde Osibodu, who gave the assurance during a chat in his Office at Oke-Ilewo, Abeokuta, reiterated that, as the State is gearing up for the much important exercise, it was imperative to put in place necessary arrangement to make the process seamless, maintaining that transparency will be its watchword.

“We want to assure everyone that the Commission will be fair, equitable, just, transparent and even-handed with stakeholders, political parties, candidates and others. I know talk is cheap, when we get there, everyone will see it. We are also taking our time to put our house in order, it is better not to do something at all than to do it shabbily, we want to adequately prepare so that we won’t come up with a date and change it later.

“You will recall that we were inaugurated on the 18th of March, 2021 and for us to have an acceptable election, a lot of things have to be put in place. We cannot give a definite date for the exercise yet. As you know, we need to give 90 days notice to the public and the aspirants. So, we want to be adequately ready before we come up with the date. We are also accessing what we have on ground”, Osibodu assured.

The OGSIEC Boss hinted that the Commission was not leaving anything to chance in its preparation, as Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Infrastructure and other logistics had to be in place, revealing that the State has 4038 Polling Units across the 20 Local Government Areas that must be catered for in terms of recruiting and training of the personnel to be engaged during the election.

According to him, “Information Technology (IT) will be the major plan, we are already liaising with the Ogun State Techhub to put in place necessary IT infrastructure to make lives and tasks easier for our people. We will carry along every stakeholder, work hand-in-hand with them to ensure that the election is successful”.

Osibodu, while allaying fears on security concerns during the election, said the Commission will synergise with various security agencies in the state in order to stem violence, noting that, “When violence is tamed from elections, other things become easy, just as it will also boost the confidence of the electorates”.

Condemning electoral violence, he assured that the Commission is going to ensure its eradication, maintaining that, “the process should not be seen as do-or-die, as the ambition of anybody seeking any office, is not worth the blood of any Nigerian, therefore, violence must be totally eschewed”.

Also speaking, one of the Commissioners in the Commission, Mrs. Gbemi Onasanya, pointed out that information is key for any organisation to succeed, describing the media as partners in progress.