Poll: Massive turnout in Ekiti as voters get N3,000, N5,000 each

There was a massive turnout of  voters in Ekiti State as the accreditation  and voting process got underway in Saturday’s governorship election.
In the three senatorial districts, many voters had arrived their polling units as early as 6.30 a.m. to wait for election officials.
Across many polling units in Ado Ekiti, the state capital,  there was an impressive turnout of enthusiastic voters determined to exercise their civic responsibilities.
At ward 10 Unit 12 A&B, Basiri area of Ado-Ekiti, the Assistant Presiding Officer, Miss Nafisat Jamie, said that though they collected all the election materials as early as 6 am,  the process could not start due to  transportation challenge to the unit.

As at 8.53 am, the names of eligible voters were just being pasted for viewing and confirmation.
An observer from the Transition Monitoring Group, Mrs Tosin Abati, said that the process started late due to late arrival of INEC officials.
At Ward 10 Unit 9, Okesha area of the state capital, the Assistant Presiding Officer  2, Mr Owoseni Taiwo, addressed the voters, who were already on the queue and opened  the ballot box for everyone to see and confirm that it was empty.
Visits  to Wards 3, Units 5 and 13 Idemo, and Ward 9 Unit 12 Odo-Ado revealed that  accreditation and voting were going on simultaneously with security men on standby.
Dr Mike Omilusi, an observer from the Allaince for Credible Election, commended INEC for its pro-active strategies  in terms  of  voter education and sensitisation ahead of the  poll.
He also commended INEC on the use of the card readers for the election, but advised that more card readers be made available in future elections.
The observer said that the new idea of accreditation and voting simultaneously was  commendable, noting that this would ensure quick conclusion of the exercise.
At the St Michael’s School, Ajilosun, opposite Mobil filling station, the turnout was also impressive while the accreditation and voting process was  also going on  simultaneously.
An observer from the Justice Development and Peace Initiative, Mr Aluko Isiaih, said that, the election started well until when the card reader in one of the wards stopped working  for about 45 minutes before it was rectified.
Meanwhile, as at the time of filing this report, elections were going smoothly in  all the eight units located within the school’s  premises while there was no  report of violence.
Efforts to speak with members of  the monitoring team from the British High Commission, however, failed  as they declined comments.
Mr Wale Adebayo, a member of the  team, said that they had  no comment to make.
In Isan-Ekiti, where the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Dr Kayode Fayemi,  hails from, accreditation and voting commenced across many polling units between 8.03a.m and 8.38.
In Fayemi’s Polling Unit 009  Ward 11, accreditation and voting commenced about 8:38 a.m. although INEC officials arrived about 7:26 a.m.

Accreditation and voting began in Polling Units 006 and 007 as well as 005 between 8: 03 a.m.  and 8:10 a.m.
At Unit 009, no fewer than 345 names of voters appeared on the pasted registered list.
In Ikere –Ekiti, the home town of the PDP flagbearer, Prof. Kolapo Olusola,  voters trooped out as early as 6.30 a.m. to various polling units.
A huge crowd was sighted at the Ofamofuru Polling Unit 007, Ward 02, of Olusola.
The Presiding Officer of the polling unit, Mr Layeni Segun, had urged  the voters to conduct themselves in an  orderly manner after displaying  the empty ballox box to those gathered.
He equally appealed to the voters to allow the elderly and nursing mothers to cast their votes first.
Other polling units visited such as ‎L.A Pilot Polling Unit,08, Ward 002, Custom Polling Unit,08, Idiyin Polling unit 006, Ward 002  also‎ witnessed a massive crowd of voters.
No fewer than 667,064 eligible voters  had  collected their Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) out of  the 913, 334 registered.
The electorate would vote in  2,195 polling units spread across 177 wards in the 16 local government areas of Ekiti while 35 candidates are contesting.
It is believed that with the impressive turn-out of voters, results may be announced earlier than expected as voting has been seamless in many polling units.
Many voters turned out at most polling centres across the 16 Local Governments and 177 Electoral wards in the state, despite initial apprehension few days to the poll. There were only a few hiccups with the card reader.
The elements also favoured the polls as there was no sign of rain in the towns and villages.
In every place visited, the voters formed long queues as security agents stood by, monitoring the exercise.
There was no complaint about late arrival of voting materials.
The only problem was controlling the crowd of voters who kept trooping to various voting venues.
However, there were incidents of altercations over open inducement of voters.
But none of the 35 participating parties owned up to the inducement allegation, as the parties traded blames.
Highest money doled out as inducement in some instances was N5,000, while the lowest was N3,000.
At Iyin-Ekiti, hometown of former Governor Niyi Adebayo who is a newly elected Deputy National Deputy Chairman, (South) of APC, elections went on smoothly in the two wards in the town.

Voting was was peaceful also at Ise-Ekiti, hometown of a former Works Minister and a former gubernatorial aspirant under PDP, Mr. Dayo Adeyeye. Scores of eligible voters that trooped conducted themselves peacefully.
Adeyeye, who came out to vote about 9:30a.m, commended the voters, security agents and INEC.
Adeyeye switched to the All Progressives Congress after the PDP primary, accusing the incumbent PDP governor of hijacking the exercise.
A security cordon was also thrown on Ekiti before and during the election.
Armed policemen and personnel of sister security agencies such as the NSCDC, NDLEA and the FRSC  were sighted at strategic locations.
In Ikere-Ekiti, home town of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) candidate, Prof. Olusola Kolapo,  there was heavy security presence, with personnel of the police and NSCDC keeping vigil on the fringes of polling units.
At the Ofamofuru  Polling Unit 007, Ward  02, of the PDP candidate, no fewer than 10 mobile police officers were sighted keeping vigil.
In Isan-Ekiti, Oye Local Government Area, Ekiti North Senatorial District,  where the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Dr Kayode Fayemi, hails from, there was also heavy security presence.
At the Polling Unit 009 Ward 11 of the APC flagbearer, no fewer than five policemen were seen maintaining law and order as at 7.30 a.m.
There was also tight security at  the Unit 2  Ward 7, Federal Housing Estate Polling Unit, in Ado-Ekiti Central Senatorial District, with five policemen sighted.
The  police had  deployed 30,000 operatives, two helicopters and 250 patrol vehicles, including  Armoured Personnel Carriers, for the  election.
The security operation for the poll would be supervised by the Deputy Inspector-General of Police, Operations, Joshiak Habila, who would be assisted by an Assistant Inspector-General of Police, four Commissioners of Police, eight Deputy Commissioners of Police and 18 Assistant Commissioners of Police.
Each Senatorial district would be manned by a Commissioner of Police while no fewer than four policemen and two others from other security agencies will be on duty at each polling unit throughout the state.
Commissioners of Police and their personnel in states close to Ekiti  such as Ondo, Osun, Kwara, Kogi, Ogun, Edo and Oyo  had  been directed  to be on the red alert with their personnel.
The Police Mobile Force Unit, Counter-Terrorism Unit, the Special Protection Unit, the Anti-Bomb Squad, the Armament Unit,  Force Criminal Intelligence and Investigation Department and the sniffer dogs section would also participate in the joint security effort.
The police  had said  that  a threat assessment had been carried out in the state and all identified flashpoints and trouble-prone areas had been addressed.
Restriction on  vehicular movement in and out of Ekiti State  also commenced  from  midnight of Friday and would be in place till  the end of the election while  travellers and other road users were advised to make use of alternative routes.
Those on essential duties were, however, being granted passage.
Other security and safety agencies, including the military and FRSC,  who are members of the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security in the state, would complement the  police during the election.
Already, the NSCDC  had deployed   19,997 personnel    for the exercise and had  also ordered the deployment of mobile surveillance vehicles and sniffer dogs.