The candidate of
the All Progressives Congress, Rotimi Akeredolu, in the wee hours of Sunday
surged into an early lead as the Independent National Electoral Commission
announced election results in some local government areas.
The LGA results
announced by the electoral body included those of Ile Oluji/Oke Igbo, Akoko
North-East, Ifedore and Irele, where Akeredolu coasted home to victory just as
the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Eyitayo Jegede, won in Ondo-East
LGA.
The candidate of
the Alliance for Democracy, Olusola Oke, closely trailed Jegede in the five
LGAs.
Despite the tension
that characterised the countdown to the Ondo governorship poll, the election,
which went under way on Saturday without any major violence, was, however,
marked by massive vote buying.
Most of the major
actors in the race complained that voters were heavily induced by politicians,
who stormed polling booths with bags of money to openly buy votes.
The election
recorded a remarkable turnout in the three senatorial districts of the state.
It was gathered
that about N450,000 was budgeted for each polling unit by the major
political parties with each voter getting between N3,000 and N5,000.
Ondo State
Governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, told newsmen covering the election that anarchy
ruled in the state as votes were publicly bought.
He accused the All
Progressives Congress of perpetrating massive electoral fraud by giving money
to voters in exchange for votes.
He said, “What is
happening in Ondo State presently is anarchy. The APC and INEC are trying to
rig the poll with the use of malfunctioning card readers and inducement of
voters.”
Elder statesman,
Chief Olu Falae, described the act of vote buying during the election as a
worrying development even as he accused security men and the officials of the
Independent National Electoral Commission of complicity.
“I have heard of
people bribing voters in Akure here. I have heard they are offering N3,000 per
vote. It is very worrisome. This is a way of comprising the will of the people.
“It is for the
government of the day to make a decision to stop this trend. There were many
police officers in those polling units, what were they doing? They could arrest
them but they didn’t do that. Without the collusion of the electoral officers
and the security agents, that (inducement of voters) can’t succeed,” Falae
said.
Apart from the
brazen monetary inducement of voters during the election, the failure of card
readers in some polling units triggered questions about the preparedness of
INEC for the election.
The All
Progressives Congress candidate in the election, Rotimi Akeredolu, expressed
worry over the situation, saying that INEC had enough time to prepare.
Akeredolu said,
“There are a few hitches here and there which have to do with the failure of
the card readers at some polling units. I expect INEC to have properly
overhauled the card readers because we are having only one election.”
There was a mixed
reaction to the exercise by stakeholders in the state.
Condemnation
continued to trail the exercise as the Peoples Democratic Party candidate, Mr.
Eyitayo Jegede (SAN), alleged that INEC conspired to rig the election by
disenfranchising voters in PDP strongholds by deliberately using malfunctioning
card readers.
Ondo State Resident
Electoral Commissioner, Mr. Segun Agbaje, however, said the machines were
working at every polling booth. He said those who made the allegations were
trying to cause confusion.
He said, “There is
no booth where election didn’t take place because of the card reader; it only
delayed the process a little bit. In the 3,009 polling units, the units I was
told that they had problems with card readers were not up to seven. Politicians
are just making noise to cause unnecessary confusion. There is no place in the
entire state where election did not hold because of the card reader, it was
only delayed.”
On the issue of
inadequate security at polling units, the Police Public Relations Officer, Ondo
State Command, Mr. Femi Joseph, said there were five policemen manning each
polling units, but added that some of them were not in police uniform.
“Our men were at
every polling unit; it is only that people saw the ones in uniform. There were
some officers who were in mufti, and we did that deliberately. Five policemen
were posted to each polling unit although not every five policemen deployed
wore uniforms,” Joseph explained.
Source:The Punch
LATEST UPDATE
7 local government has been declared so far by INEC. They are :
1. Ondo East. (PDP)
2. Ondo west. (PDP)
3. Ileoluji/okeigbo. (APC)
4. Ose. (APC)
5. Ifedore. (APC)
6. Akoko N/E. (APC)
7. Irele. (APC)
Source:The Punch
LATEST UPDATE
7 local government has been declared so far by INEC. They are :
1. Ondo East. (PDP)
2. Ondo west. (PDP)
3. Ileoluji/okeigbo. (APC)
4. Ose. (APC)
5. Ifedore. (APC)
6. Akoko N/E. (APC)
7. Irele. (APC)
Total. APC. 74,801
PDP. 58,675
Akeredolu of APC is leading in five local goverment declared with 16,126 votes while Jedege won in two local government so far.
11 more local government is yet to be announced. INEC to reconvene by 6:30am
PDP. 58,675
Akeredolu of APC is leading in five local goverment declared with 16,126 votes while Jedege won in two local government so far.
11 more local government is yet to be announced. INEC to reconvene by 6:30am
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