By Richard Elesho
The final steps for the Osun State Governorship election has commenced all over the state this morning. Staff of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC are seen setting up materials and attending to the electorate in polling units across the state. Accreditation started in many of the polling units on schedule at 7:30am. But in some others, the exercise was delayed due to late arrival of materials.
TheNews reports that 48 political parties, fielding 4 female and 44 male candidates are participating in the election. The average age of the candidates range from 32 years for the youngest and 64 years for the oldest. More than 1,000,000 registered voters are expected to participate in the election.
The security agencies are richly on ground to ensure orderliness during and after the polls. The Nigerian Police have some 30,000 men led by an Assistant Inspector General, AIG, on ground. The Nigerian Security and Civil Defense Corps, NSCDC, have about 5,500 personnel while the Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC have 1,500 officers deployed to monitor the election. The army, Department of State Security, DSS have also deployed agents for the polls.