The Chairman, Oyo State Independent Electoral Commission (OYSIEC), Aare Isiaka Abiola Olagunju (SAN), has revealed that the commission would continually dialogue with political parties in the state and other stakeholders for the purpose of achieving an all-inclusive local government council election.
The commission chairman, also hinted that plans are underway for new innovations to harness situation reports from various polling units on elections day towards making the process credible and transparent.
Olagunju, who made this known while featuring on a radio program in Ibadan, said the challenge before his team is not about fixing a date for the elections, but lack of trust in the commission, which according to him has led to voter’s apathy during previous elections.
He maintained that the perceptions of the populace on OYSIEC based on past experiences, is fading gradually, following the ongoing trust and confidence building campaign of the commission to various stakeholders in the state.
Olagunju, who emphasised the need for adequate preparations for a hitch free election, said concerted efforts would be made to ensure the election is truly competitive.
He said, “Picking a date for election is not a challenge but voter’s apathy. We are glad that people have started having a change of mind in this regard based on visit to various stakeholders in the state. History has it that some people have conducted local government council elections in the state where opposition parties emerged victorious in the election, and this I want the populace to believe is very much possible to repeat itself”
“In fairness, no interference of any kind. We are independent in terms of operation. We are getting necessary support from the government and I can tell you that elections will hold very soon. We are not relenting in the areas of public awareness and sensitisation to achieve all-inclusive elections. I want to appeal to the people of the state to have that trust and confidence in Olagunju-led OYSIEC team that elections to be conducted would be truly competitive, free, fair and transparent
