The governorship candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Kebbi State have commended the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) over the conduct of Saturday’s gubernatorial and state Assembly elections in the state.
Dr Nasiru Idris of the APC and his PDP contender, retired Maj-Gen. Aminu Bande, lauded the improvements recorded by INEC.
Fielding questions from newsmen after voting at his polling unit at Nagari College, Nasarawa II, in Birnin Kebbi, Idris hailed the electoral umpire for commencing the exercise as scheduled.
He noted that INEC had proved to Nigerians that the commission had improved the exercise by discharging their responsibility diligently, adding that it has done well compared to previous elections.
Idris also lauded the electorate for what he described as massive turnout of people, adding that the voters did not only come out to vote but also conducted themselves orderly and peacefully.
The APC gubernatorial flagbearer however urged people to remain law abiding and patiently wait for the outcome of the elections without intimidating anybody.
Besides, he thanked INEC, security agencies, observers, journalists and other stakeholders for mobilizing the electorate to come out as well as ensuring a hitch-free election in the state.
On his part, Bande told newsmen shortly after casting his vote at Waziri Umaru Linzamiyya, 004 polling unit, Nasarawa II, in Birnin Kebbi, that he was impressed with the significant improvement recorded by INEC in the state.
He said: “There is positive improvement in the way INEC is conducting the elections today.
“The most significant thing I saw in this election is the timing; elections today started as early as about 8.30 a.m. in many places, unlike the last elections where up to 12 noon people were waiting to receive election materials.
“But today is not the same, INEC has done well in this aspect but we still have some complain from villages; the report is not good to hear because there are reports of ballot box snatching and vote buying.”
According to him, there are lot of villages without security personnel, while appealing to security agencies to provide the necessary security in those areas to enable people exercise their civic responsibility peacefully.
He also appealed to party loyalists to remain law abiding citizens and respect constituted authorities as they patiently allow the security agencies to do the needful.
