OSUN ELECTION: INEC IDENTIFIES FLASHPOINTS, BOOSTS SECURITY AT POLLING UNITS
Read Time:3 Minute, 9 Second
By:Tajudeen Aminat
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has identified potential flashpoints across Osun State and intensified security arrangements around polling units ahead of the election.
The commission’s Director of Voter Education and Publicity, Victoria Eta-Messi, disclosed this during an interview on Monday, saying the security measures were being implemented in collaboration with relevant security agencies.
Eta-Messi acknowledged that the pre-election atmosphere in the state was tense, stressing that the commission was working with security agencies to ensure voters could exercise their franchise without fear.
“Osun is tense. I don’t think it’s what citizens were expecting. There is a lot of desperation in the land,” she said.
She explained that vulnerable and volatile areas had been mapped through security risk assessments, with additional personnel expected to be deployed to areas considered potential flashpoints.
According to her, the military would provide back-end and outer-ring support in areas where there are concerns about possible violence, while the police would play the lead role in maintaining security around polling locations.
“The volatile or vulnerable areas, as I mentioned earlier, have already been mapped, and there will be more security deployed to those areas. There are potential flashpoints, and so the commission is aware of that,” she said.
Eta-Messi said the security strategy was developed through the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES), which includes INEC and the Nigeria Police Force as lead agencies, with the National Security Adviser serving as co-chair at the national level.
She said risk mapping had guided the planning, coordination and deployment of security personnel to locations requiring additional protection.
The INEC official also disclosed that the commission had intensified efforts to curb vote trading, describing the practice as a major concern ahead of the election.
She said the commission had engaged traditional rulers, community leaders and parents to discourage young people from participating in vote buying and selling.
On reports of stolen Permanent Voter Cards in Ife Central and Odo-Otin Local Government Areas, Eta-Messi warned that stolen PVCs could not be used to vote because voters must undergo biometric and facial verification through the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System.
“You cannot use a stolen PVC. Recall that accreditation using the BVAS requires your facial or biometric capture. So whether you come with my PVC or not, you’re just wasting your time,” she said.
She disclosed that INEC had produced replacement cards for voters whose PVCs were stolen in the affected local government areas and had flagged the stolen cards in its system.
According to her, anyone who attempts to use one of the stolen cards would be unable to vote and could be arrested by the police.
“Those cards have already been noted at the back end, and whoever came with them or comes with them will just be wasting his time and is liable to be arrested by the police,” she added.
Eta-Messi further highlighted several preparations undertaken by INEC ahead of the election, including engagements with political parties, traditional rulers, transport unions and security agencies.
She said INEC Chairman, Joseph Amupitan, recently visited Osun State with members of the commission’s management team for further stakeholder engagement and the signing of a Peace Accord involving participating political parties.
She added that integrity tests had been conducted on the commission’s technological devices, while a mock accreditation exercise was also carried out to assess the readiness of the electoral technology.
According to her, meetings were also held with transport unions to ensure the timely movement of election personnel and materials to polling units.
She urged voters to remain calm and participate in the election, assuring them that security agencies were being deployed based on identified risks to create a safe environment for citizens to exercise their democratic rights.
Happy
0 %
Sad
0 %
Excited
0 %
Sleepy
0 %
Angry
0 %
Surprise
0 %
0
0