Yusuf Oketola
The newly appointed Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the State of Osun, Dr. Mutiu Agboke, has declared that the era of election rigging in Nigeria has gone for good.
Agboke made this known while addressing the commission’s staff in Osogbo.
He said manipulation of the election processes, through any means, was no longer possible under the present arrangement, especially with the introduction of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS).
According to him, the new device had “technically murdered” all forms of election rigging in the country.
The new REC promised to uphold the tenets of the commission by ensuring that people’s votes count in the 2023 general elections.
He said: “My responsibility is to uphold the value of INEC, and the value of INEC is to ensure that the people’s votes count in the election that will be conducted.
“I want to assure the electorate in the state that we will not disallow them from getting the fruit of the votes, and the fruit of their votes is to vote in a direction, and get results in that direction.
“The era of rigging is gone. Our process and procedure have technically murdered rigging, and that is what BVAS has come to achieve.”
“So, in the 2023 election, INEC will ensure that the votes of the people of Osun reflect their desire.
“Nobody will be deprived of his right to cast his or her vote, and the commission will do the needful at all times”.
