The Ekiti Government on Monday said it had no plan to usurp the powers of the Ekiti State Independent Electoral Commission or dictate to it ahead of the December 7 local government election in the state.
A statement on Monday by the Commissioner for Information and Values Orientation, Chief Muyiwa Olumilua, said government had not given directive to the commission suggesting that people could vote during the election with their driver’s licences and identity cards.
According to him, EKSIEC remains an indepenhdent body that is free to conduct its affairs without government’s interference.
“Electoral laws and guidelines are the exclusive preserve of the INEC and SIEC, and the government has no desire to usurp their functions.
“What I said was from my engagement with EKSIEC on the issue of voters with damaged or defaced PVCs.
“EKSIEC said that in situations like that, the prospective voter must have been duly captured in the voter’s register and must have been issued a PVC prior to the election.
“But in a situation whereby the PVC is defaced or damaged, another form of identity, which is biometric based, could be used to ascertain the identity of such a person, and the decision to allow such person(s) to vote lies exclusively with the Presiding Officer of the Polling Unit.
“The government of Ekiti State will not make a statement which seemingly takes over the functions and duties of the State Independent Electoral Commission.
“The operative world here is ‘Independent’, and the state government respects that.”
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