The Ogun State Independent Electoral Commission on Thursday released guidelines for the local government elections scheduled for November 16.

OGSIEC Chairman, Babatunde Osibodu, who announced the guidelines at a stakeholders’ meeting in Abeokuta, said that the elections would hold from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Mr Osibodu, represented by a Commissioner in the commission, Olatunji Akoni, noted that people were central to and would play a crucial role in the elections, adding that OGSIEC understood their importance.

He said that the meeting was aimed at instilling confidence in those participating in the elections, including political parties and associations as well as religious and community leaders.

According to him, the commission’s goal is to organise free, fair and credible elections, which will serve as a benchmark in the history of elections in the state.

“At OGSIEC, we are committed to gender sensitivity and are actively advocating female participation in the democratic process. The commission has, therefore, set the administrative charges for the political parties presenting candidates for the elections,” he said.

The OGSIEC chairman put the administrative charges at N250,000 for the chairmanship candidate, N150,000 for male councillorship candidate and N100,000 for female councillorship candidate.

He said that the N100,000 administrative charges for female councillorship was aimed at lowering barriers for women to participate in local governance and giving them fair and equitable opportunities.

Mr Osibodu assured that the elections would truly reflect the wishes and aspirations of the people at the grass-roots.

In his contribution, the State Chairman of Social Democratic Party, Yinka Williams, urged the commission to do everything possible to convince political parties that the exercise would be free and fair.

“There will be voter registration, which is very important to this election,” he said.

The Commissioner for Local Government, Ganiyu Hamzat, appealed to OGSIEC to ensure free and fair elections in the state.

Present at the stakeholders’ meeting were representatives of security agencies, traditional rulers and political parties, among others.

(NAN)