The National Orientation Agency (NOA) has embarked on a campaign toward achieving a peaceful, credible and generally acceptable conduct of the upcoming general elections.
The Kwara Director of the agency, Mr Olusegun Adeyemi, made this known to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Ilorin.
Adeyemi said that NOA would leave no stone unturned to ensure that the electorate were well informed.
He urged those that are yet to collect their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) to do so, so as not to be disenfranchised.
He advised Nigerians that to eschew violence and rigging as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) now have the right to cancel election on its own.
”As it is now, INEC has demonstrated uncommon preparedness for the election with several measures put in place already.
”Now, it is better not to be involved in violence because INEC has the right now to cancel any election that is labelled violent as well as anyone that the number of voters surpass the number on the registration list,” he said.
Besides, the NOA boss urged the electorate to vote correctly by thumb printing on the appropriate space and not borderline to avoid voided votes.
He, however, urged the State and Federal Governments to provide material and financial support to the agency to perform its mobilisation role.
”As an agency that is to mobilise, we are already demobilised because we lack tools to work with.
”Presently, we have only one official vehicle servicing the whole state, which should not be so; our staff have to use their private vehicles to do all that we need to.
”Before, it used to be a vehicle that has screen attached to it that can be taken to villages and we won’t need to talk much, but we don’t have that again,” he said.
”We also need motor cycles to access some nooks and crannies, but we don’t have, so it’s limiting our reach.
”The media is also part of what we need and we need money to appear on radio and television programmes, which we don’t have.
”So, we need adequate funding to do our work religiously,” said Adeyemi. (NAN)
