Election: Aregbesola, Ooni of Ife collect permanent voters' cards

Dr Rufus Akeju, the INEC  Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Osun, on Friday presented permanent voters' cards to Gov. Rauf Aregbesola and Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuade.

Akeju made the presentation in Ward 8, Unit1, Ifofin Area of Ilesa and Ooni's palace in Ile-Ife respectively, where they had registered.

Aregbesola, after collecting his card in Ilesa, his home town, urged Nigerians to see the electoral process as a means of guaranteeing their right to choose their leaders.

INEC had scheduled the revision of voter's register for three days from Friday to Sunday.

The governor advised all prospective voters to properly keep their voter cards for the Aug. 9 governorship election and subsequent elections.

'The greatest power we have as a people is the power to fearlessly elect leaders of our choice from the ward to the national level.

'We must also be ready to discharge our responsibilities as responsible citizens by participating actively in the electoral process,' Aregbesola said.

He advised those who registered for the 2011 elections whose names were not on the list to make themselves available during the continuous voter registration exercise between March 12 and March 19

In an interview, the REC said the exercise throughout the state took off on a successful note, saying it was running peacefully and smoothly without any hitch.

Akeju asaid 60 per cent of people that came to the poll centres were able to collect their cards, adding that INEC had worked very hard to ensure the success of the exercise.

The REC also presented the voter's card to the governor's wife Mrs Sherifat Aregbesola in Ilesa.

Other visited polling centers were Ilode1&11, Oke-Itase, Iloro, Enuwa and Oke-Ogbo among others in Ile-Ife.

One of the ad-hoc staff who spoke with NAN, Mr John Omo, at Ilode Ward 1, said that the only challenge faced was the problem of non arrangement of the cards. (NAN)