Ahead of Saturday, 18 March, 2023, House of Assembly election in Osun State, the immediate past Governor of the state, Adegboyega Oyetola has tasked the electorate to remain vigilant and resist attempts by unscrupulous politicians to interfere with election results in their various polling units.
He also urged Osun people to keep their eyes on all sensitive election materials especially the Bimodal Voter’s Accreditation System (BVAS) as part of efforts to stop over-voting.
He spoke on Thursday, 16 March, 2023, while addressing loyalists of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in some of the Local Government Areas of the State.
Oyetola who raised the alarm over plans by members of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to unleash mayhem and scuttle the electoral process, called on the electorate to be watchful and keep their ‘eyes on the ball’ while the election is ongoing.
The former Governor also lauded the people of the state for their support just as he urged them to come out in large number to elect candidates of the APC in the Saturday’s election.
“A lot of information has been going on in respect of the antics of the members of the ruling party – PDP to disrupt the election particularly at the strongholds of the APC in the upcoming House of Assembly election.
“Their plan is to disrupt the election at our strongholds and to intimidate and harass whoever that wants to vote for our candidates. They are planning to cause over-voting so that the entire votes of such polling units will be cancelled by INEC.
“Another thing they have concluded plans to carry out is ballot box snatching in our strongholds and I want you to resist all these by ensuring that you monitor your votes to collation stage.
“What we want from you is simple, on the day of election, make sure you go out earlier and arrive your polling units in time. When you get there, pray and approach the electoral officers and make sure that you are duly accredited before voting. Make sure that your pictures are taken or asked to do the finger-print before voting. And if none of this is done or seems impossible, please, don’t vote even if you are asked to do so.
“After accreditation, make sure that you are not given more than the required ballot papers, avoid being induced with multiple ballot papers because doing so will cause over-voting.
“When you are given a ballot paper, make sure that you vote rightly to avoid void votes. After voting, don’t go home immediately please, wait patiently to monitor your votes and make sure that every voter follow due process because failure to do this, is an invitation to over-voting too.
“We have heard enough about their plans to manipulate the election and we want you to resist their antics,” Oyetola said.
As regards the provision of adequate security before, during and after the election, Oyetola urged the electorate not to panic as security of lives and property of the residents would be guaranteed.
According to him, necessary security apparatus will be put in place to ensure a hitch free electoral process.
Oyetola whose campaign tour visited Gbongan in Ayedade Local Government Area; Garage Olode in Ife-South Local Government Area; Ilesa in Ilesa-West and Ilesa-East Local Government Areas, was warmly received by his party’s loyalists.
