The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said that the commission will deploy 370 Supervisory Presiding Officers (SPO) in Osun for the February 25 and March 11 elections.
Dr Mutiu Agboke, the INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner in the state, disclosed this to journalists on Sunday, on the sidelines of a two-day training organized for SPOs in Osogbo by the commission.
He said the SPOs are selected senior staff in Federal Government institutions who will be responsible for the training and retraining of other ad hoc staff including Presiding Officers (PO) and Assistant Presiding Officers (APOs).
“SPO training is very important because the SPO will be responsible for the training and retraining of ad hoc staff, POs and APOs, at the Registration Area Center (RAC).
“He is also responsible for deploying ad hoc staff to various polling units on Election Day.
“They will manage the POs, refresh their memory, take them through the BVAS method, tell them the process and procedure of the Election, how to enter the results and how to manage/set them in the polling unit,” he said.
He reiterated the commission’s readiness to conduct general elections, adding that the training of SPOs is a sign that the commission is ready to proceed with the elections.
Earlier, while addressing the SPO, Agboke warned them not to compromise with politicians to sabotage the election saying that anyone caught sabotaging the election for politicians will be prosecuted and jailed.
Agboke said he would personally prosecute electoral officers or SPOs found guilty of subverting elections in the state.
REC warns those who want to become SPOs to do the bidding of politicians to think again.
He said the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machine remains sacrosanct for the upcoming elections and many politicians are afraid of BVAS.
However, he stressed that, by using BVAS, INEC will ensure that elections are won only by popularity and acceptability.