VOTERS in Ejigbo, Olaoluwa, Egbedore, Iwo, Ayedaade and Ede South Local Government Areas of Osun State, on Saturday, were out early on Saturday to exercise their franchise in Saturdayâ€
s governorship election, amid reports of card readers hitches and vote-buying across many units of the local governments.
As early as 7a.m., voters had begun to throng their different polling centres in Ara, Ejigbo, Ilawo, Bode-Osi and Iwo, expressing optimism that the exercise was going to be hitch-free and orderly.
A voter at the Unit 1, Ward 2, Ejigbo Baptist High School, Ejigbo, who identified herself as Mrs Rekiat Adigun, stated that voting materials arrived in the unit before the 8a.m. commencement period for the exercise, noting that with the security presence and conduct of the officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the exercise would be orderly.
At Unit 4, Ward 2, Oba Abidjan/Alaran, the voters also commended the INEC for the prompt arrival of voting materials and officials, with a similar experience said to have occurred in Ara and other parts of Ejigbo in Ejigbo Local Government visited by Sunday Tribune.
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However, reports of card readers hitches trailed the exercise in many units across some local governments in Osun West, with the governorship candidate of the Action Democratic Party (ADP), Alhaji Moshood Adeoti, expressing mixed reactions over the development.
Adeoti assesses poll
While speaking with newsmen at his Ward 2, Gidigbo II Unit of Iwo, Adeoti maintained that the exercise had been orderly in the three units of the voting centre, saying: “I got here about an hour ago and I noticed that there has been peace and order in the arrangement of things here. We have three polling units here; I registered in Unit 4. Having been privileged to see the process here, I am satisfied with the conduct of the election in these three units, but this position should not be misconstrued to mean I am talking in respect of the 144 polling units in Iwo Local Government. These are just three out of 144. If what is going on here is replicated in other polling units across the state, one can give INEC 100 per cent.�
He, however, lamented that in Units 1 and 2 of Ward 14 in Iwo Local Government and Unit 1, Ward 10 in Asa Methodist School, Asa, among others, there were issues of card reader hitches, saying: “the two card readers there are not functioning and I have told my agents there to report to the INEC office in the local government so that they can replace the card readers in good time. In addition to that, in Olaoluwa Local Government, I got the information that in Unit 1, Ward 10 in Asa Methodist School, the card reader there is not functioning. I have told them to go and report at the INEC office.�
Adeoti also commended the security arrangement in the three units, noting that “if this arrangement should continue after the voting exercise and when the votes are being counted, I can assure you that we will not have any problem.�
Parties trade blame over vote-buying
Sunday Tribune can report that the vote-buying menace continued in the election, though with a new modus operandi, as some party loyalists were seen clutching papers and writing materials, penciling in the names of voters meant to patronise their parties, while some other individuals monitored voting in the booth.
This development was noticed at Ward 2, Unit 1, Ejigbo; Ward 6, Unit 7, Ode Omu in Ayedaade Local Government and Ward 8, Unit 2, Sekona in Ede South Local Government, among others, with voters who spoke to Sunday Tribune noting that they write names before voting and that they had been directed to see the writer of names and some party chiefs after voting.
One of the ‘agents†writing names refused to disclose his name or his party, noting that he had indeed been writing names of voters for record purpose and “not for vote-buying.�
The ADP candidate, Adeoti, had, however, hinted at the vote-buying development when he told Sunday Tribune that he heard reports of vote-buying in some areas in Iwo and had immediately alerted the security agents to the development.
“I overheard that something of that nature [vote-buying] is happening at Akinfenwa Open Space in Isale Oba in Iwo Local Government Ward One. I have rightly informed the security agents that they should go there so as to checkmate the situation. Apart from that, I have not been briefed about the developments in other parts of the state. Maybe before the close of voting, we will hear more,� Adeoti said.
Sunday Tribune could, however, not confirm if the alleged arrest of two stalwarts of one of the major parties at Isale Oba area of Iwo, with cash running into hundreds of thousands Naira, was based on the tip off by Adeoti.
Similarly, Director of Media, Senator Adeleke Ademola Campaign Organisation, Mallam Olawale Rasheed, stated that there had been reports of vote-buying by some parties, denying, however, that his party was involved in the development.
Rasheed, who spoke to Sunday Tribune at his Ward 2, Unit 5, Gidigbo, Iwo, had commended the orderliness of the election, noting, however, that the card readers had been rejecting voter cards in his unit, despite efforts by INECâ€s technicians to fix the problem.
He noted that the card reader failure had been a general problem, though there were also reports of alleged fake policemen going round in Ila, Ikirun and other places.
Responding on the issue of his party being accused of buying votes, Rasheed said people were only levelling allegations against the PDP “because we are the winning party,� noting that the PDP was not buying votes.
“People are voting freely; we are not in government, where are we going to get the money to buy votes? We know a party that has been paying N10,000 to voters even before today. We have been hearing the issues of some parties buying votes.
But, our party has been largely exonerated, because we do not have the cash to buy votes. It is APC that has the cash; they are in government and they have billions of Naira.
“PDP does not need to buy votes because the people see our party as the symbol of the liberation for the state. There is a liberation movement going and people want to be free, so we do not need to pay them to do that,� he said.
There were issues with smart card readers in Ede South local government as the Presiding Officers (POs) battled with the devices, just as large number of voters waited in vain at Ward 4, Unit 10, Alajue, Ede South, opposite Seventh Day Primary School, Ede as a result of the difficulties with smart card readers.
Speaking to Sunday Tribune, the Polling Officer at in Unit 10, Ward 4, who is a member of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Miss Adebisi Abosede said: “The Smart card readers cannot read the Permanent Voters Card (PVCs). We have contacted INEC about it and thatâ€s why you see people waiting on the queue.â€�
Commenting on the conduct of the exercise, the standard-bearer of the PDP, Senator Ademola Adeleke, who spoke to journalists in Ede, his country home, said: “so far, so good, the election kicked off at 8.00 am, and it has been peaceful and that is what we have been preaching, including the international community.�
He added: “In Nigeria, we want a free and fair election and Osun State would be a reference point for free and fair election and I can assure you that once it is free and fair, I, Senator Nurudeen Ademola Adeleke, would emerge victorious. I am very confident that I would win the election.�
Adeleke, who had earlier voted at Abogunde Sagba polling unit, Ward 2, in Ede North local government asserted that “once it is free and fair because we are hearing rumours that they want to rig in this state, but God would not allow the, to carry out rigging. Like I said, once it is free and fair, I am going to win.�
“We are still resolute that no matter the intimidation, we are are focussed. Today is the D-day, we are still focussed. I have not got any discouraging reports from any of our party agents across the state so far. The security situation is still calm. For nowhere letâ€s believe that it is going to be like this till the end.â€�, the PDP flag bearer remarked.
At Ward 5, Unit 16, Ago Ebira, Odeomu, Ayedaade local Governmnt, large crowd of voters were also sighted performing their civic responsibilities, just as the Commandant of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence (NSCDC) in charge of the poll in Osun State, Mr Tajudeen Balogun decsribed the exercise as largely peaceful.
Balogun, who is the Lagos State Commandant of the NSCDC, posited that his “command was among the commands drafted for this election, based on the order of my Commandant General, Abdulahi Mohammed, who is being represented on ground by DCG operations, Kelechi Madu. My own jurisdiction in this election include Ayedire, Ayedaade, Isokan, Olaoluwa, Irewole and Irepodun local government area. We have to monitor and make sure that we have a peaceful election.�
“From my assessment so far in places I have been, there is no issue of violence. People are happy and you can see what is happening here at Ward 5.�
A chieftain of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and former Minister, Alhaji Jelili Adesiyan, who spoke to journalists in Ode Omu in his Ayedaade Local Government Area, corroborated the position of the NSCDC boss, stressing that the exercise in Idi Ose area “very peaceful.�
The post APC, PDP devise new method on vote-buying appeared first on Tribune.
APC, PDP devise new method on vote-buying
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