A 3-man committee constituted to look into the spurious allegations raised by a faceless group on the ongoing Continuous Voters Registration Exercise in Osun state has released their report after meeting with the Osun State Resident Electoral Commissioner of INEC, Mr. Olusegun Agbaje.
This was contained in a press release issued by IPAC Chairman, Mr. Wale Adebayo who is also the State Chairman of Allied Peoples Movement (APM) on Tuesday in Osogbo.
The Committee headed by Engr Femi Adesuyi who is also IPAC State Deputy Chairman and the Chairman of the Zenith Labour Party in the state confirmed the earlier claim of IPAC Chairman that the allegations raised by the faceless group against INEC was baseless and biased.
Other Members of the committee which included Pastor Popoola Olatunji of APGA (IPAC state PRO), and Alhaji Olaniyi Abass (Representative of SDP) also substantiated the Committee Chairman’s report.
Some of the reasons given by the INEC boss include: influx of students from the 41 tertiary institutions domiciled in Osun state participating in the registration exercise, also 80 percent of the registrants who are also digital savvy falls between the age bracket of 18 and 35 and selection of wrong/incorrect options during the registration exercise. Other reasons are also listed in the below release.
Osun IPAC Chairman under the leadership of Mr. Wale Adebayo urged Osun political parties and citizens to be guided by the below report and disregard any group or press statement reported to have been earlier circulated by unauthorized/faceless persons on this issue.
Find below the full release issued by the Chairman of IPAC, Mr. Wale Adebayo after the Committee Chairman, Engr Femi Adesuyi gave his forensic report to the House on the whole issue.
Sequel to my publication on the 27th of July 2021, I communicated my knowledge of some news making rounds about the increase in the total number of new voters registered in the ongoing Continuous Voters Exercise Nationwide.
I promised that IPAC would look into the matter and constitute a Committee to visit the INEC REC for Osun State so as to get clarity on why there is a massive hike in the number of voters in the State, as against her counterparts.
A 3 man Committee was constituted to this effect and they are, IPAC State Deputy Chairman Engr Femi Adesuyi State Chairman Zenith Labour Party, others are Pastor Popoola Olatunji IPAC state PRO, State Chairman APGA, and Alhaji Olaniyi Abass Representative of SDP.
They met with the REC and the following was the outcome of their deliberations with the REC. Osun INEC REC explained to IPAC the reason Osun State has alarming figures close to 200,000 as at the time of visit.
1. The REC stated that the CVR are in two phases, the first phase is preregistration exercise which is done purely online without any interference from INEC. Individuals register from their homes, and cannot be held for a number of voter registrations from a particular region or state.
2. Number of Tertiary institutions in Osun State: He said Osun state has about 10 Universities, 8 Polytechnics, 8 College of Education, 6 Schools/Colleges of Health Sciences, 8 Innovation Colleges/Institutes and 1 Monotechnics. Making a total of 41 Tertiary institutions. With this development, Osun recorded a high surge of youthful engagements in political matters.
3. He also said Majority of the registrants are youths. Further examination of the statistics shows that youth from the age bracket 18-35 covers 80 percent of the figures. And this can largely be due to the recent consensus from the Nigerian youth to get fully involved in politics, a course championed more in the South Western region of the Country.
3. Wrong or incorrect Registration option. He further revealed that it was discovered that most people chose the “fresh registration” option, whereas some of them are either for Transfer of Voters Card or Damaged or defaced Voters Card or Correction of Data. Since they mostly registered as FRESH REGISTRANT, it will reflect as a new registrant even though they are now. All the above options are available, but most still registered as new registrants.
HIS RESOLUTION ON THE MATTER.
However, Osun INEC REC made it clear that every registration in the CVR era will be sorted into appropriate Categories. And this will be done when they appear for phase two which is physical biometric data capturing.
He also told the committee that Phase two of the Continuous Voters Registration, which is where applicants are expected to show up for biometric capturing. During this exercise, multiple registration will be sieved out, and also those who chose wrong options will be corrected as well. At the end of the phase two exercise, the number of fresh registrants will be ascertained.
The Resident Electoral Commissioner then implored all IPAC members in the State, to educate their members, helping them choose appropriate options when filling the online registration. He Also warned that multiple registration is an electoral offence, and members of the public should desist from such acts.
OUR POSITION.
After listening to the State REC, and deliberating amongst ourselves. These were our conclusions:
1. That the Political parties give INEC a full benefit of doubt as touching this issue. Since it has come up with an intelligent reason for the hike in number, provided it ascertains its position of cross checking for any case of registration fraud.
2. That the Commission makes substantive awareness when the second phase begins, so that all corrections will be effected and the abnormalities regulated.
3. The commission also should ensure that the final accurate number of new registered voters be made public, via their website for all to see, after which we are sure all concerns would have been attended to.
4. That the Commission continue in its frequent briefing of IPAC on the progress of both the registration and other electioneering procedures as we draw closer to the Gubernatorial polls.
I am certain that with these measures in place, we will be able to go to the polls full of confidence that every party stands an equal chance at the polls.
I am always and will forever be committed to securing the interest of the people of Osun State, and I want every political stakeholder to keep supporting IPAC to enable her to achieve her lofty aims.
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