Following the untimely death of the Ex-speaker, Oyo state House of Assembly, late Michael Adeyemo, who represented the Ibarapa state Constituency, the Independent National Electoral Commission on Tuesday fixed Saturday, June 2nd for the bye-election to fill the vacant seat at the hallowed chamber.
INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) for Oyo State, Mutiu Agboke, made the disclosure at the Agodi, Ibadan, state headquarters of the Commission during a press briefing, on Tuesday.
Michael Adeyemo died on Friday, April 27. He was aged 47.
Agboke, a lawyer, called on political parties interested in fielding candidates for the election to ensure they conduct their primaries between from Wednesday and Saturday 19, May, just as he assured voters in the area of conducting a credible election.
He said the Commission arrived on the date after putting all legal and administrative tendencies into considerations.
The REC, who remarked that the election would be conducted in 140 polling units of the constituency, said political parties, security agencies and other stakeholders had been invited to discuss the timetable and activities that would lead to the election.
He said machinery was set in motion to fulfil extant laws as soon as the House of Assembly informed the commission formally of the death of Speaker Adeyemo and the consequent vacancy of his position as a lawmaker.
He disclosed that the permanent voter cards (PVCs) for those who freshly registered in the 2017 continuous voter registration had been produced and were ready for collection from Monday next week.
However, he added that the PVCs for those who registered in 2018 had not been produced, explaining that they would be ready for use in the 2019 elections.
He said, 630, 853 PVCs were yet to be collected in the state, disclosing that the commission had embarked on a series of advocacy campaign and engagement with stakeholders to ensure make the owners of the cards claim them.
He said, “The total number of new registrants under CVR is 290, 960 comprising 149, 554 males and 141, 406 females. Incidentally and quite disturbing as at today, 630,853 Permanent Voters Cards are yet to be collected by their owners.”
He explained further that the commission had taken the campaign to churches and mosques, urging those yet to collect their PVCs to do so at the INEC local government offices in the 33 local government areas of the state.