By Jubril Bada

The commission said it is targeting one man one vote which will allow every eligible voter fulfil their electoral right ahead of the February 17 elections.

The State Chairman of ODIEC, Dr. Joseph Aremo, gave the assurance at the opening of a two-day workshop for the commissions’s principal, electoral officers and supporting staff with the theme” Electoral Governance and Leadership at the Grassroot: The Roles of the State Independent Electoral Commission”.

At the event, Aremo said it was part of the targets of the commission to create a template where people will have power and right to decide whoever they want in the position of power.

According to him, the elections will be a benchmark in Africa in the conduct of credible, free and fair polls.

The chairman who explained that the commission is not about political party but people, said the best way to assess the performance of the government in the state was to look at the performance at the grassroots.

According to him, “the mantra of today’s workshop is one man one vote and the perfection to have credible elections,”

He pointed out that the commission had planned to change the narrative of conducting the local government from the perception of the person in power and be about democracy and people at the grasssroot.

He, however, noted that the commission is conscious of the critical roles of its officers of electoral process and all its officers must be recognized and protected in the conduct of the elections.

In his lecture, Dean, Faculty of Law, Elizade University, Prof. Olubayo Oluduro sensitized the officers of the commission on the need to keep abreast with the key provision in the new electoral act 2022 for the successful conduct of the polls in the state.

The don who explained penalties for electoral offences or non-compliance to the new electoral act by any stakeholder said the only escaping root is to sustain and uphold the electoral act to avoid being faced the wrath of act

Also, in his lecture titled ” Leadership and Conflict”the lecturer from the Department of Forestry and Wildlife Management, Adekunle Ajasin University, Prof Alaba Gbadamosi urged the officers of the commission to be visionary in the discharge of their legal duty in forthcoming elections.

He tasked them to enhance their management skills to achieve the innovative results expected of the commission in the elections.

The don who explained that conflict will always happen said this require skill to be resolved

Gbadamosi commended the commission for the innitiative which he said will go a long way to assist the electoral officers who will be on the field on the day of the elections not to run foul of electoral offences.

He said the whole essence of managing conflict is to take away every form of distraction in the leadership pursuit of the overall goal of leadership.