By The Independent National Electoral Commission says an attack on one of its voter card collection centres in Osun will not stop it from delivering a free, fair, and credible governorship election in the state.
INEC’s chief press secretary, Dayo Oketola, gave the assurance to journalists in Abuja on Monday, days after suspected hoodlums stormed a PVC collection point at Oyinlola DC School, Ward 2, Okuku, assaulting staff and making away with electoral materials, including Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) devices and voter cards.
Oketola confirmed the incident had been formally reported to police, who have already opened an investigation. He said the commission trusts officers to track down the suspects and recover the stolen assets, including the BVAS units carted away in the raid.
On whether the attack could set preparations back, his response was blunt: “INEC cannot be distracted.” He pointed to the numbers behind that confidence where he said 4,427 BVAS units configured for the election, with 664 held back as backups, alongside 97 Super Registration Area Centres and 105 Registration Area Centres already set up across the state’s local governments, all to be activated the night before polling.
He also dismissed the theft of the PVCs as ultimately pointless, explaining that BVAS’s biometric verification closes the door on anyone trying to vote using someone else’s card. He added that the “ghost voter” era, as he put it, is over.
For voters whose cards were among those stolen, Oketola offered reassurance that nobody already on the voters’ register would be locked out of the election over the incident. He said INEC would take whatever administrative steps were necessary to protect their right to vote on August 15.
He closed by calling on security agencies, traditional and religious leaders, and political stakeholders to work together, not just to keep the election peaceful, but to give Osun residents the confidence to come out and vote.
