Ajimobi frowns at Day One of PVC exercise in Oyo
The governor of Oyo State, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, has frowned at the process of issuance of the Permanent Voters’ Card (PVC) which began in the state on Friday, stating that it was capable of disenfranchising a wide network of the people of the state.
He made this remark on Friday in a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media, Dr. Festus Adedayo.
There were complaints in virtually all the wards in the state from people who turned out en masse for the collection of the PVCs but who did not find any Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) officials to attend to them.
The governor, who said he was inundated by complaints from the people of the state, said he personally went out to many of the centres and discovered that INEC officials were nowhere to be found in many of the places.
Calling on the INEC and the Resident Electoral Commission to proffer solutions to whatever had kept the officials off the centres, the governor said that by the absence of the INEC officials, the whole essence of the government declaring a day holiday for the people to participate in the exercise could well have been defeated.
“Our government has implicit trust in the INEC and its ability to conduct a free and fair election in Oyo State. However, we are not happy that our long-suffering people, whom we had enjoined to troop our and indeed mobilized massively to participate in the process, were not allowed to exercise that civic right on Friday” the governor said.
He implored the INEC to double up efforts at making up for the absence of its officials on Friday, stating that government had sensitized the people enough to perform their civic responsibilities.
Apart from declaring Friday a public holiday to enable the people participate in the process, Governor Ajimobi also made a state-wide broadcast on television and raido to the people of the state where he enjoined them to actively participate in the process.
“Given the peaceful atmosphere and secure environment which this administration has instituted and nurtured since inception, you can be rest assured of free and fair elections in Oyo State. The consequence of refusing to participate in this exercise (collection of Permanent Voters Card) would be too dire for us individually, collectively and for our future. Our vote is our power and we must use it judiciously and wisely,” he had said.
