..says 71.6% of PVCs collected so far
By: Mercy Peter
Political parties and their candidates in the forthcoming Governorship election in Ondo State are expected to sign a peace accord scheduled for November 8, 2024.
Ondo State residents are expected to go to poll to elect their governor November 16 2024.
No fewer than 17 political parties nominated candidates for the election.
The signing of the peace accord which has become a ritual before any major election in the country is facilitated by the National Peace Committee, led by former Head of State General Abdulsalami Abubakar.
The signing tend to tie the candidates to ensuring a peaceful and violence-free election.
Disclosing the date for the signing, the INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, said also flagged potential hotspots in Ondo State, noting that the commission is coordinating with security agencies to prevent violence.
He spoke on Thursday in Abuja during a quarterly consultative meeting with Civil Society Organisations.
He said: “On this note, I am also glad to announce that the National Peace Committee, under the leadership of our respected former Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar GFCR, is holding the signing of the Peace Accord for parties and candidates in Ondo State on Friday, November 8, 2024.”
Yakunu also added: “However, we are aware of flashpoints in some Local Government Areas to which we have already drawn the attention of the security agencies.”
On Permanent Voter Cards collection, Yakubu said “A total 64,273 PVCs were collected by voters out of the 89,777 cards delivered to the State.
“This represents an impressive collection rate of 71.6%. I want to appreciate the CSOs that helped to mobilise registered voters to collect their cards.
” In the next few days, the Commission will upload to our website the cumulative figure of all PVCs collected in each of the 3,933 Polling Units across the State for the purpose of result management as provided by law and for public information.”
Yakubu also gave assurance of a better outing in Ondo State, saying there will be further improvements.
He said lessons were learnt from previous elections.
He said: “As usual, we have learnt lessons from previous elections. We have improved on the voter accreditation process and the upload of results to the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal. There have been similar improvements in observer and media accreditation. Our voter education efforts are ongoing. “The capacity of election duty staff has improved with hands-on training for especially Polling Unit officials.
“As we approach the Ondo State governorship election, there will be further improvements, especially in the areas of logistics for the movement of personnel and materials to both land and riverine locations to enable the prompt commencement of polls as well as the management of the processes on Election Day from voting to declaration of result.”
As part of the preparation for the election, he said “Mock accreditation of voters and result upload to the IReV has been scheduled for Wednesday 6th November 2024 in 12 Polling Units across six Local Government Areas in the three Senatorial Districts of the State. Detailed locations of the centres has been uploaded to our website. Hardcopies are enclosed in your folders for this meeting.”
He also added, ” I also urge you to intensify your advocacy for peaceful elections, especially now that campaign by political parties and candidates is in full swing in the State. Happily, there has been no major incident of election-related violence known to the Commission in Ondo State so far. “However, we are aware of flash points in some Local Government Area to which we have already drawn the attention of the security agencies.”
