The Ogun State Independent Electoral Commission (OGSIEC) has shown its sensitivity to gender imbalance and advocation for female participation in the democratic process of the state by setting lesser administrative charges for female candidates in preparation for the upcoming 2024 Local Government Council elections.
This new development was made known by the chairman of the commission, Babatunde A. Osibodu (Esq.) during his address at the stakeholders meeting held today August 8th at the June 12 Cultural Centre, Kuto, Abeokuta.
He said, “At OGSIEC, we are committed to gender sensitivity and actively advocate for female participation in the democratic process.
The commission has, therefore set the administrative charges for the political parties presenting candidates at the election as follows; N250,000 per Chairmanship candidate, N150,000 per male councillorship candidate, and N100,000 per female Councilorship candidate.”
The Commission’s decision to review the charges for the female gender is aimed at lowering the barriers for women to participate in local governance and to further ensure they have fair and equitable opportunities to represent their communities and contribute to the democratic process.
The Chairman in the rest of his speech admonished the people of Ogun State, with emphasis on the youthful population, to maintain dignity and self-respect during the upcoming elections.
In his words, “Avoid being used for violence or engaging in anti-democratic activities such as ballot-snatching and multiple voting. Let us work towards electing responsible and credible leaders at the grassroots.”
He ended his address by formally releasing the guidelines and essential documents for the 2024 Local Government Council elections scheduled for November 16, 2024
