20th July, 2012
Ogun State Independent Electoral Commission, OGSIEC, is set to conduct local government elections in the state tomorrow.
The OGSIEC has begun preparations ahead of the controversial elections in which one of the opposition parties, Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, had gone to court to restrain the commission not to exclude its candidate from contesting in the polls.
At the OGSIECs office yesterday, amidst tight security, all the materials needed for the elections were seen taken away by the electoral officers in charge of the 20 Local Government Areas in the state.
A source at the OGSIEC’s office told our correspondent that the state government has provided all the necessary support to the Commission, adding that,”we have no excuse not to organise free and fair elections in the state.
Meanwhile, there are at least 100 mobile policemen stationed around the commission to forestall crisis, restricting movement of people in and out of the premises.
As at this morning, more security agents have been deployed to the state to beef up security to ensure a hitch-free election. Also there is restriction of movement from 8.am to 3.pm tomorrow in the state to forestall any problem during election.
Seventy seven chairmanship candidates would be contesting for the 20 seats while there are at least 500 councillorship candidates for the 236 wards in the state.
—Abiodun Onafuye/Abeokuta