Election Authorities' Delay, Low voter Turnout Mar Election Of Oyo LG

THE holding of the local government elections in Oyo State on Saturday was plagued by low turnout, non-appearance, and the late arrival of electoral officers and materials.

Across numerous voting units, there was a common story about low voter turnout and delayed arrival of electoral officials.

Election officials failed to show up at numerous voting places before nine in the morning.

Voters hardly came up for the exercise, thus when Sunday Tribune arrived at certain polling places between 1 and 2 p.m., election authorities were mainly inactive.

17 of the 613 registered voters in the Ibadan South East Local Government Area's Ward 12, Unit 16, and 23 of the 520 eligible voters in the same local government's Ward 12 showed up.

As of 1:35 pm, 31 out of 355 registered voters had cast ballots in Open Space, Ward 12, Unit 5 of Ibadan South East, while 12 out of 358 voters had cast ballots in Unit 14, Ward 9.

Unit 14, Ward 9 in the Ibadan South West Local Government Area saw 12 out of 358 voters cast ballots, and Unit 29, Ward 9, saw 35 out of 846 people exercise their right to vote.

Similarly, voters who had appeared at certain polling places waited in vain since election officers did not appear.

Voters enrolled in Wards 12 and 15, as well as Unit 15 in Ward 9, in the Ibadan South East Local Government Area, waited in vain for electoral authorities who did not show up.

Voters in several of the 11 wards in the Saki area of the state, as well as Unit 47, Ward 9 in the Ibadan South West Local Government Area, had to wait for hours for election authorities to show up.

The similar situation occurred in Unit 47, Ward 9 of the Ibadan South West Local Government Area, as well as in several units throughout the state's 11 wards in Saki, where voters had to wait for hours for election authorities to show up.

All Progressives Congress (APC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) party agents were the only people present at the majority of voting places, but security personnel were seen at the majority of them.

Out of the units visited, the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) agent was only visible at one.

The Oyo State Independent Electoral Commission (OYSIEC) announced on Saturday night that the results would be made public on Sunday morning at nine o'clock.

Oyo APC said in a statement released on Saturday by its publicity secretary, Olawale Sadare, that even if the electoral commission deems all APC candidates the winners, the party will still reject the poll's results since they don't meet the minimal international standards for election conduct.

“The best thing is for the commission to suspend the exercise and choose another date for a proper conduct rather than continue to connive with a few anti- democratic elements in the ruling PDP to perpetrate electoral fraud and desecration of democracy in the land,” APC said.

In the ten Oke-Ogun local government councils, OYSIEC's electoral officers withheld the official result sheets, known as Form EC8A, while political thugs attacked opposition members who inquired in locations such as Kajola, Olorunsogo, Itesiwaju, Ibarapa East, Lagelu, Ido, Oyo East, Atiba, and Oluyole, among others. After being brutally attacked by PDP goons in Eruwa, our party's Ibarapa East chairman, Mr. Segun Ojediran, is currently undergoing medical attention in a private hospital.

Isiaka Olagunju, the chairman of the Oyo State Independent Electoral Commission (OYSIEC), has expressed satisfaction with the way the state's local government election is being run.

This reflects his statement that concerns regarding the delayed delivery of election materials to some polling places had been resolved.

Following his observation of the exercise in various sections of the state, Olagunju made this assessment at the commission's offices in Agodi, Ibadan.

Olagunju said: “I am very glad everywhere is calm and there is no violence. We have addressed all concerns about late arrival of election. materials at some polling stations.”

Speaking about the monitoring exercise, Mr. Adebola Hamzat, the Commissioner of Police in Oyo State, stated that the peaceful election is proof of the security services' cooperative efforts.

He stated that conflicts in certain regions of the state were being resolved.

“We have deployed enough security personnel, our people would see them everywhere. There is no cause for alarm, so far so good.”

In related news, Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde has praised the state's residents for casting ballots in the election held on Saturday.

The governor gave the election's conduct a high rating as well, saying that it contrasted well with polls run by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Following his vote at Unit 1, Ward 011, Abayomi Open Space, Iwo Road, Ibadan North East LGA of Oyo State, the governor made the following remarks.

While addressing journalists after exercising his franchise, Governor Makinde said.

“You can see around also that the people are going about, performing the exercise peacefully and the traffic restriction is being obeyed by the people. So, I will commend our people for coming out to take democracy seriously at that level.”

The governor advised everyone who saw any suspicious activity to report it to the security agencies, pointing out that the election's security report had been great.