INEC: 1.9 Million Voters Registered To Participate In Osun Election

A total of 1,955,657 registered voters will participate in the July 16 Osun governorship election, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC has said.

This was disclosed by INEC spokesman, Festus Okoye at a round-table media executives dialogue on Friday in Osogbo.

According to Mr Okoye, 15 political parties would participate in the election in all the 30 local government areas in the state, just as he urged media executives in the state to ensure credible and fair reportage during the governorship election.

Mr Okoye, who added that the media is very important to the electoral process, said without the media, the commission’s election process and procedures might not get to the electorate and the parties’ candidates.

He said: “We are meeting the media today because they are critical stakeholders in the electoral process.

“We appeal to the media to do proper investigation during the election before publishing any report.

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“Breaking news is good but fact checking is also important for the right information to be sent out.”

Mr Okoye said that the Bimodal Accreditation System (BVAS) would be used for the authentication and verification of voters.

He also said that the election would be conducted within the ambit of the constitution, electoral act, INEC’s regulation and guidelines.

Mr Okoye assured that the election would be free, fair and transparent.

“We have the power to do what is right and we will put everything in place to do that,” he added.

Mr Okoye said that INEC Chairman, Professor Mohamood Yakubu, would be in the state between July 3 and July 7 to oversee preparation for the election.

He added that mock exercise and accreditation with BVAS would be done during the period.