There is a heavy security presence at the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) office along the Gbongan-Ibadan Road in Osogbo, Osun State, as final preparations intensify for Saturday’s governorship election.
Our correspondent observed a large number of security personnel, including officers of the Nigeria Police Force, stationed within and around the INEC premises on Friday. 
The deployment is part of the security arrangements being put in place ahead of the movement of election personnel and materials to the state’s 30 local government areas.
Election stakeholders, including civil society organisations, journalists and accredited observers, were also seen at the INEC office as preparations for the poll reached a critical stage.
The Resident Electoral Commissioner in the state, Oluwatoyin Babalola, was also said to be holding meetings with National Commissioners and supporting Resident Electoral Commissioners from other states as final arrangements for the election were being concluded.
The governorship election is scheduled to hold across 3,763 polling units in 332 wards spread across the 30 local government areas of the state.
Meanwhile, INEC had on Thursday disclosed that 1,906,390 Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs), representing 81.50 per cent of the 2,339,233 registered voters in the state, had been collected ahead of the election.
INEC’s National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, Mohammed Haruna, disclosed this in a statement.
According to him, 426,842 PVCs, representing 18.50 per cent of the total registered voters, remained uncollected and had been safely deposited with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), in line with the commission’s established practice.
The commission also disclosed that some registered voters whose PVCs were damaged, defaced or lost had applied for replacement.
It said 6,101 applicants had printed downloadable copies of their replacement PVCs.
The heightened security presence at the INEC office comes amid increased preparations by security agencies and other stakeholders to ensure a peaceful and credible governorship election in the state.
