By Dayo Johnson

AHEAD of the November 16 governorship election in Ondo State, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has promised to conduct a credible, transparent, and inclusive election in the state.

The Resident Electoral Commissioner, REC, Mrs Oluwatoyin Babalola, who gave the assurance in Akure, over the weekend, said that 58,708 new voters have been added to its electoral register in preparation for the governorship election.

The REC noted that 3,132 voters transferred their registration into Ondo State, while 123 voters transferred their registration out of the state.

She said: “The updated voter statistics indicate that over 2,053,061 individuals will participate in the upcoming election.

“The breakdown includes more than 1,034,006 male voters, 1,019,055 female voters, 726,944 youths, 721,982 middle-aged individuals, and 441,516 elderly voters, along with 162,619 senior citizens and 1,782 Persons With Disabilities, PWDs.

“Three political parties have no agents at all levels of polling and collation.

“INEC is fully committed to conducting a credible, transparent, and inclusive election in Ondo State.”

On the registration exercise, Babalola said: “The distribution of Permanent Voter Cards, PVCs, from the Continuous Voter Registration, CVR, exercise will commence soon.

Babalola urged all registered voters from the previous registration exercise who have yet to collect their PVCs to do so, adding that the process is ongoing at local council offices.

She added that the commission would simplify the collection process and establish PVC collection centres in all Registration Areas (RAs) and local government areas for easier access.

She said: “Qualified candidates will be invited for training. Babalola mentioned that extensive capacity-building workshops have been conducted for INEC staff, with more training sessions ongoing.

“The National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, members, who will make up a significant portion of the poll officials, have undergone 13 weeks of training in preparation for their roles.

“INEC has intensified voter education campaigns across the state and has collaborated with various groups to discourage voter apathy.

“A key innovation for the election is the deployment of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, BVAS, which will be used for voter accreditation at all 3,933 polling units in the state.”

Speaking on the security arrangements, the REC said: “INEC is working with the Nigeria Police Force and other security agencies under the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security, ICCES, to ensure a secure environment for all election stakeholders.

“Security personnel will be deployed across all polling units, collation centers, and strategic locations to prevent any form of electoral malpractice or violence.”