“Whatever was carted away will be replaced. Out of the 4,427 BVAS, we have 664 prepared as backups. There is no way whatever happened can disrupt our plans for the election,” INEC Chairman's chief press secretary said.
The post INEC reacts to PVC collection centre attack in Osun as governorship poll approaches appeared first on Premium Times Nigeria. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says the reported attack on one of its permanent voter cards (PVCs) collection centres in Osun will not deter it from conducting a free, fair and credible governorship election in the state. Chief Press Secretary to the INEC Chairman, Mr Dayo Oketola, gave the assurance in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Abuja.
NAN reports that some suspected hoodlums had, on Sunday, stormed an INEC PVC collection centre located at Oyinlola DC School, Ward 2, Okuku, attacking staff members on duty and carting away electoral materials, including Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) devices and PVCs. Oketola, however, told NAN that the incident had been formally reported to the police, saying they had already commenced investigation into the incident. “The Osun incident has been reported to the police.
As we speak, it is already public knowledge that the police have started an investigation,” Oketola said. He expressed confidence in the police to apprehend the suspects and recover the stolen commission assets. “As a commission, we trust that the police will be diligent in their investigation, track those suspects, get them arrested and ensure they face the wrath of the law.
“We also trust that they’ll be able to recover our devices, including the BVAS that were reportedly carted away,” he added. Oketola maintained that in spite of the attack, INEC’s operational preparations for the upcoming election remained firmly on track. “It is a matter already under investigation, I cannot actually comment too much on it.
“But I know that that cannot distract INEC from carrying out the activities preceding the Osun governorship election. We will conduct a free and fair election in Osun. “The election will go on as planned, and we expect it to be free, fair and credible at the end of the day,” he said.
Summary from source