Low turnout, delay as Kwara holds LG polls after 7yrs

Election into the 16 local government areas of Kwara State were conducted on Saturday under a peaceful atmosphere across many of the councils.

Daily Trust reports that the exercise was held seven years after the last council polls in the state in November 2017.

Our correspondent observed that the election was characterised with low turnout and late arrival of election materials in some of the polling units visited.

Also, some market women and traders embarked on their various business activities while the exercise lasted.

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There was heavy presence of security operatives including the army, civil defence, police and other sister agencies.

At Taiwo Isale, two Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs) and several other military Hilux vans were sighted during a patrol of the metropolis.

One of the officials who did not want his name in print said, “We are just doing our job to ensure there is no trouble during the exercise as you can see. We are not out to intimidate anyone.”

Speaking after casting his vote at Idigba polling unit 004, Adewole Ward in Ilorin West Local Government Area, Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq commended the electorate, saying that democracy had come to stay.

“From what we can see here, the turnout is good. We wait for results to come out from various parts of the state. We can see that democracy has come to stay,” he said.

The governor, who described the election as peaceful, commended the security agencies for their conduct and urged them to maintain the spirit.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for the Ilorin South LGA, Hon. Majeed Bolakale Podo, adjudged the process as peaceful and orderly.

“Everything is going smoothly. There has not been any complaint in all the wards in the Ilorin South. It has been peaceful and orderly so far,” he said.

Also speaking while monitoring the exercise in parts of the Ilorin metropolis, the Chairman of the Kwara State Independent Electoral Commission (KWSIEC), Mohammed Baba-Okanla, ascribed reported delay in the commencement of the election to logistics.

“Some circumstances can cause delays. Some of the vehicles conveying election materials to polling units broke down and we found ways to amend the situation. You can see in this area now, normalcy has returned.

“In some of the places we’ve visited, there was no problem, it’s just that there was late arrival of materials. But as soon as we got there, situations were improved upon,” he said.

Also, in a chat with journalists, KWSIEC Supervising Officer for Danialu Collation and Distribution Centre, Akanbi Ward 3, in Ilọrin South LGA, Basambo Oladimeji, blamed the late arrival of election materials on insufficient buses to distribute the items to polling units in some areas of Ilorin.

He expressed confidence that once the materials and officials reached their polling units they would make up for the time lost.

He explained that each of the 51 polling units under his control has a total of 250 voters, adding that all accredited voters would be allowed to vote before the close of voting time.

In his reaction, former education counsellor, for Ilorin South LGA, Barrister Adeleye Smith, expressed concern over late arrival of election officials and materials.

He appealed to the electoral umpire to ensure adequate preparation in subsequent elections to prevent suspicion by the electorate.

Senator representing Kwara Central Senatorial District, Mallam Saliu Mustapha, in an interview after casting his vote at Gambari Ward I, Ilorin East LGA, appreciated the people, KWSIEC, and the state government for their efforts at ensuring that the election was peaceful.

“Right from my house to this place, I’ve observed a peaceful process going on and I hope at the end of the day, my party the APC will emerge victorious so that we can continue the good work that the APC government led by Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq is doing”, he said.

Speaking on the complaints that have trailed the exercise, Mustapha said, “There is no election without complaints but so far, we have had a peaceful process which is commendable”.

On his part, the PDP candidate for Ilorin West, Comrade Musbauhdeen Esinrogunjo, lamented the incident of inadequate election materials adding that it is a recipe for disenfranchisement of eligible voters.

He called on the federal government to look into the election adding that whatever the outcome was, “we will not resort to violence but will ventilate our grievances in court which is the last hope of the common man”.

Meanwhile, reports gathered from Offa LGA revealed that the poll, which started peacefully, later witnessed alleged electoral malpractice.

Some voters in the town alleged that there were fewer number of election materials as against registered voters and thus refused to continue voting.

The situation, it was gathered, made the Offa community leaders to call for discontinuation of the election to avert possible breakdown of law and order in the area.