Group urges INEC on continuous women inclusivity

The Gender and Election Watch has urged the Independent National Electoral Commission to continue to sustain its inclusivity drive for women as part of its policy on inclusion, following the success of the just concluded governorship elections in Osun State.

The GEW made the call in a statement signed by its Chief Executive Officer, Mufuliat Fijabi, who noted that of the 267 ad hoc staff sighted at the polling units where observation took place, the electoral body had employed the hands of 138 males representing 52 per cent of the total, while 129 were females, representing the remaining 48 per cent.

While commending the people of Osun for a good voter turn-out, Fijabi said the GEW had observed that many of the voters were women, some of them, aged women, and that INEC had placed women and Persons With Disabilities, as priority voters.

Other observations, according to the statement, were the conducts of security personnel at the polling units, which, Fijabi noted, had given confidence to the electorate to come out to demonstrate their franchise. Also observed were the early commencement of electoral activities as scheduled, and the proper functioning of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System at the polling units.

The group called on INEC to build on the gains of the Osun elections towards the coming general election in 2023, and also encouraged the National Orientation Agency, Civil Society Organisations and other relevant stakeholders, to continue to sensitise the citizenry on their rights to exercise their civic duty and shun vote trading.