The National Orientation Agency (NOA) has taken its voters education campaign to the residents of Ibadan, in Oluyole Local Government Area, to teach them the proper way to thumbprint ballot papers in the forthcoming general election.

In her welcome address at the occasion, Mrs Dolapo Dosunmu, the Oyo State Director of NOA, said the sensitisation was to encourage active participation of voters in the electoral process, to avoid all the pitfalls that might ultimately render their votes useless.

Dosunmu stated that the programme was aimed at minimising the incidence of voided votes during elections.

“The ballot paper for the forthcoming general elections may be considered extremely long due to the large number of political parties, thereby making the process cumbersome for some people.

”It is also self evident that the number of voided votes in an election can have negative impact on its outcome.

”In an instance where rejected or voided votes are many, the winner in such contest may not reflect popular choice.

”This is the reason the agency is sensitising the electorate to be more enlightened on how best to cast their votes, to ensure that the votes count,” she stated.

The NOA boss then implored leaders of political parties to desist from any act that can spur divisive tendencies and set them against one another.

In his remark, Mr Abas Aleshinloye, Council Chairman, Oluyole Local Government Area, promised to collaborate with NOA in its voter education campaign.

Aleshinloye implored leaders of various communities, religious leaders, traders and Non-Governmental Organisations to take the message to their various groups, so that the grassroots would be well informed.