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OGSIEC assures of fairness, transparency in council polls

By Gbenga Akinfenwa
18 April 2021   |   2:25 am
The Ogun State Independent Electoral Commission (OGSIEC) has assured political parties and other stakeholders to be fair, transparent and unbiased in the forth-coming local council election in the state.

The Ogun State Independent Electoral Commission (OGSIEC) has assured political parties and other stakeholders to be fair, transparent and unbiased in the forth-coming local council election in the state.
 
Chairman of the Commission, Mr. Babatunde Osibodu, who gave the assurance in a statement yesterday, said 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.
 
“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 March 18, 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,” he said.
 
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 4,038 polling units across the 20 councils that must be catered for in terms of recruiting and training of personnel to be engaged during election.

According to him: “Information Technology (IT) will be the major plan, we are already liaising with 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 would synergise with various security agencies in the state to stem violence, noting that, “When violence is tamed from elections, other things become easy, just as it will also boost 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 ambition of anybody seeking any office, is not worth blood of any Nigerian, therefore, violence must be totally eschewed.”

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