Governorship candidate of the Zenith Labour Party, ZLP, in the forthcoming Osun State election, Olufemi Adesuyi, has urged the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to strengthen security at Permanent Voter Card, PVC, distribution centres across the state.
This is following the reported theft of voter cards in Okuku, Odo-Otin Local Government Area on Sunday.
Adesuyi, who made the appeal in a statement issued on Tuesday, stressed that enhanced protection at the 332 ward collection centres was essential to safeguard the integrity of the electoral process ahead of the August 15 governorship election.
He called on the Osun INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner, Oluwatoyin Babalola, to work closely with security agencies to ensure adequate deployment of personnel to all PVC collection locations, particularly in vulnerable rural communities.
According to the ZLP standard-bearer, “the reported incident in Okuku should prompt immediate preventive measures to avoid similar occurrences in other parts of the state where eligible voters are collecting their cards.”
Adesuyi said the security of electoral materials remained fundamental to public confidence in the election, adding that every registered voter deserved unhindered access to their PVC without fear of disruption or criminal interference.
“We cannot afford a situation where citizens who have fulfilled their civic responsibility by registering are denied access to their Permanent Voter Cards because of security lapses or criminal activities,” he said.
He stated that, “The protection of PVCs and other electoral materials is critical to the credibility of the election. INEC should immediately reinforce security at all designated collection
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