Ahead of the Ondo State Gubernatorial election, a group of youths on Tuesday stormed the national headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC in Abuja to demand the removal of the State’s Resident Electoral Commissioner, REC, Oluwatoyin Babalola.
Recall that the Ondo governorship election is scheduled to hold on November 16, 2024.
The youths carried drums and placards, singing and dancing while demanding the reinstatement of the REC.
In the petition titled: “Urgent Demand for the Immediate Redeployment of Ondo State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Mrs. Oluwatoyin Babalola,” which was read to journalists by Comrade Ayo Adeyemi, the forum alleged her fraternity with the ruling All Progressives Congress, which it noted was inimical to free and credible elections.
The petition, addressed to INEC Chairman Professor Mahmood Yakubu, urged him to ensure the redeployment of the Ondo REC ahead of next month’s election.
The petition reads in part: “We, the members of the Ondo Youth League, Action for Credible and Transparent Elections, would like to call on the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Mahmood Yakubu, to heed wise counsel by redeploying the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Ondo State, Mrs. Oluwatoyin Babalola.
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“Our call this morning is to ensure that the processes leading to the scheduled Saturday, November 16, 2024, Governorship Election in Ondo State are not only transparent and credible, but must also be coordinated by individuals whose views and opinions are consistent and impartial.
“From our findings, Mrs. Babalola is from Ondo State, and there are growing concerns regarding her impartiality and potential bias in the forthcoming election.
“It has also been established that Mrs. Babalola’s alleged fraternity with the ruling party in Ondo State is an impediment and a threat to democracy and other political parties in the election.
“In light of the above, and for the sake of credibility and transparency, we therefore wish to reiterate our demand for the immediate redeployment of Mrs. Oluwatoyin Babalola as INEC REC in Ondo State.
“We believe in the importance of dialogue and cooperation, and we hope that INEC will take steps to rekindle the trust of the people of Ondo State by addressing this matter before the November 2024 Governorship Election.”
This is as the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, announced that 55,859 Permanent Voter Cards were collected in the state ahead of the governorship election.
The electoral umpire, in a statement on Tuesday released by its National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun noted that the PVCs were collected over a five-day period, representing 62.2 per cent of the 89,777 available cards.
Olumekun noted that this was the highest percentage of PVCs collected in such a short period since the Continuous Voter Registration process was introduced in 2015.
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