SENATOR Bassey Otu has advised security personnel to allow voters to identify their polling units as the March 18 governorship elections approach.
He made this statement during an interview on Roadmap 2023, a pre-recorded Channels Television program that highlights election issues and tracks personalities.
Otu, the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in Cross River State, stated that while guaranteeing security is critical, ensuring adequate voter turnout is also critical.
He noted that the one-week postponement of the Governorship and State House of Assembly elections allows the Independent National Election Commission (INEC) to focus on addressing the glitches identified in the presidential and National Assembly elections on February 25.
“My belief is that the security blockades were necessary to ensure that there is peace. But I think the personnel that are mounting these roadblocks must tone down in terms of trying to make sure that people get to their location of voting,” he stated.
“If you look at probably the Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs), you will know a particular citizen is going to vote, he should be allowed to access his area of voting so that he can be able to exercise his franchise.
“I want to also believe that probably because of the fear of the unknown, they were very stern and still. But moving forward, their bosses/Commanders should be able to let them know that the actual exercise will be affected if people are not allowed to go to their polling units.”
The Governorship/Assembly polls were initially scheduled for March 11 but were postponed by the electoral body to give INEC adequate timing to reconfigure the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS).
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