As Osun State prepares for the governorship election this Saturday, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) office on Gbongan-Ibadan Road in Osogbo is buzzing with activity and heightened security presence.
According to our correspondent, a large presence of security personnel was noted at the INEC premises, with members of the Nigeria Police Force among them. Preparations are well underway for their deployment across the state’s 30 local government areas.
Election stakeholders, including civil society organizations, journalists, and election observers, are already present on-site to ensure that everything is prepared for the event. The Resident Electoral Commissioner, Oluwatoyin Babalola, is reportedly holding meetings with National Commissioners and supporting RECs from other states as they finalize the arrangements for the election.
The election is set to occur across 3,763 polling units in 332 wards within the state’s 30 local government areas. On Thursday, INEC revealed that over 1.9 million permanent voter cards (PVCs) have been collected ahead of the Osun governorship election. Mohammed Haruna, INEC’s National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, stated that this number is from a total of 2,339,233 registered voters in Osun State. Of these registrants, approximately 1,906,390 PVCs—or roughly 81.50%—have been distributed to voters; meanwhile an outstanding balance of around 426,[422](mailto:842), accounting for about [fourteen point fifty percent]()))18).5*pi/100%, remain securely held at Nigeria’s Central Bank following standard Commission protocolroduction].
Furthermore, several individuals who faced damage, defacement, or loss of their PVCs have requested replacements. According to the Commission’s records, 6,101 applicants have printed downloadable versions of their PVCs.
