INEC seeks traditional rulers’ help to ensure peaceful Osun election

By Deborah Oladejo, Osogbo –

The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Amupitan, on Friday appealed to traditional rulers in Osun State to prevail on political actors to shun violence and promote peaceful conduct ahead of the Aug. 15 governorship election.

Amupitan made the appeal during a courtesy visit to the Ataoja of Osogbo, Oba Jimoh Oyetunji, describing traditional rulers as influential custodians of the people’s trust whose intervention could help reduce the growing political tension in the state.

He urged the monarch to convene meetings with major political stakeholders and impress on them the need to place the state’s peace above partisan interests.

“You are the custodian of our heritage, and your voices count a lot. Invite the principal actors and talk to them, and let them know that we are one and an election should not divide us. Please intervene for the overall good of everyone,” he said.

Amupitan also said the commission plans to introduce downloadable and printable Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) for Osun voters whose cards were snatched.

According to him, the technology, recently introduced by the commission, will be deployed for the first time in the Osun election to ensure that no eligible voter is disenfranchised.

He explained that stolen PVCs would be useless to anyone other than their rightful owners because every voter would still undergo accreditation before being allowed to vote.

On the commission’s preparedness, Amupitan said INEC was putting mechanisms in place to ensure the election is peaceful, timely and transparent, stressing that an election is successful when it is peaceful, starts and ends on time, has effective logistics and transparent result management, with results announced promptly.