2019: INCE Charges Nigerian Media On Voter Education, Ethics, Debates

Eniola Olayemi

The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Kwara, Malam Garba Athairu- Madami, has called on the media in the state to help in educating the public on voting procedures.

Athairu- Madami made the call in Ilorin on Wednesday at a meeting he had with members of the State Inter-Agency Advisory Committee on Voter Education and Publicity (SICVEP).

According to him, the media has a crucial role to play to ensure the success of the elections in the country.

Athairu- Madami, who described the media as the eye of the public, said it was shaping opinion in the society.

The REC appealed to the media to specifically educate the electorate on how to thumb print and fold their ballot papers on the day of election.

We need the media to preach peace to the people of the state because without peace, we cannot get things done, he added.

Athairu- Madami also told the media to mobilise the people to collect their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) before the Feb. 8, 2019 deadline for collection of PVCs.

The REC used the occasion to reiterate his readiness to conduct the freest, fairest and most acceptable elections in the state.

He added that a total of 1, 095,781 PVCs have so far been collected out of the 1, 406,437 registered in the state.

Athairu- Madami, however, expressed the hope that those concerned would pick up the remaining 311,619 PVCs yet to be collected before the expiration date.

To achieve this, the REC said he had directed his staff to take the collection of the PVCs to the ward level from Friday to Sunday.

I enjoin Kwarans to come out en masse and collect their Permanent Voter Cards if they have not done so.

I equally implore those who have collected their PVCs to exercise their civic responsibility.

I must, however, urge Kwarans to be careful and orderly while participating in these exercises, the REC said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that members of the SICVEP included NAN, FRCN, Kwara TV, Radio Kwara, NOA, labour and NUJ.