Adejoke Adeleye/Abeokuta
The Chairman, Ogun Independent Electoral Commission (OGSIEC), Mr. Babatunde Osibodu, has advised political parties participating in the forthcoming local government elections in the State to canvass for votes responsibly and avoid smear campaigns,
Osibodu who stated this in Abeokuta, added that political parties should engage the electorate and convince them to vote in their favour without resorting to smear campaigns.
“The only means to convince the electorate to vote for you is through vigorous campaigns which must be done without injuring the personality of others, there is the need for political parties to engage the people”, he said.
The OGISEC boss also debunked the allegation that the commission had given nomination forms to some individuals.
He said nomination forms would be issued to political parties and not individuals, urging members of the respective political parties to contact OGISEC for issuance.
“We are not dealing with individuals and we are not issuing nomination forms to anybody. It is those candidates who went through party primaries and are subsequently screened by the Commission that will be issued nomination forms through their various political parties”, he added.
Speaking on why the electronic voting system is not being considered for the election, the OGSIEC boss maintained that the forthcoming election is a local one and that voters are mostly rural dwellers who may neither be competent nor familiar with the internet.
Osibodu who pledged that the outcome of the election would be the true reflection of vote cast, added that a lot of things must be put in place before the country could adopt electronic voting system, as it is capital intensive.
He added that the Commission was in constant engagement with security agencies with the view to fashioning out ways to make the exercise violent-free.