By John Dike, Osogbo
There was an impressive turnout of voters in several parts of Osun State on Saturday as the governorship election got underway, with residents turning out in large numbers to exercise their franchise despite security concerns and tension that preceded the poll.
Our correspondent, who monitored the election across Ife East, Ife South and Ife Central Senatorial District, observed large numbers of voters at several polling units, with many arriving early and waiting patiently to cast their ballots.
The turnout was attributed by some voters to the competitive nature of the election, which features incumbent Governor Ademola Adeleke of the Accord Party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Bola Oyebamiji, and the African Democratic Congress (ADC) candidate, Najeem Salaam.
Some voters who spoke with journalists said the peaceful conduct of the election had allayed some of the fears and tension that characterised the build-up to the poll.
They also commended the presence of security personnel at polling centres, saying the visible security arrangements gave voters confidence to come out and exercise their civic responsibility.
Meanwhile, party agents and voters in Ilesa commended the early arrival of ad hoc personnel deployed by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), saying their prompt arrival contributed to the timely commencement of voting.
At Ward 8, Unit 7, voting commenced at exactly 8:30 a.m., with a large number of voters already gathered at the polling unit.
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) agent, Moruf Ajayi, commended INEC for the timely arrival of its officials, saying their early presence contributed to the smooth commencement of voting.
An electorate, Oladimeji Ajibola, also praised INEC for the early arrival of voting materials and ad hoc staff.
Ajibola commended the peaceful commencement of the exercise and urged voters to maintain peace throughout the election.
However, voting was delayed at Ward 8, Unit 10, following the non-availability of tables and chairs needed for the display of election materials.
The Presiding Officer, Elizabeth Adaramaja, said she and her team arrived at the polling unit as early as 6:45 a.m., but could not commence the process because there were no tables and chairs available for the election materials.
She said the party agents expected to provide the needed items had yet to make them available.
One of the party agents at the polling unit, Grace Samson, said she and other agents were making efforts to resolve the logistical challenge.
Samson acknowledged that INEC officials arrived early but said the absence of tables and chairs caused the delay in the commencement of voting.
Another party agent, Rachael Ajayi, said efforts were ongoing to address the situation and enable voters to begin casting their ballots.
Ajayi also commended the early arrival of INEC’s ad hoc staff.
An electorate, Kikelomo Adeyeye, said INEC officials should not be blamed for the delay, arguing that the responsibility for providing tables and chairs rested with party leaders at the polling unit..
Adeyeye said the early arrival of the ad hoc staff demonstrated their readiness to conduct the election, but the logistical challenge temporarily stalled voting.
At Ibokun, however, an electorate, Adewumi Irekandu, raised concerns over difficulties encountered with the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), particularly in accrediting some voters with older voter cards.
He said the issue had been brought to the attention of INEC officials, who promised to address it.
“The election has been going on as expected except for the BVAS machine not capturing or accrediting some of the potential voters, especially those with old voter cards. But we have called the attention of INEC to it and they promised to resolve it,” Irekandu said.
He also raised concerns over reports that some voters who had not changed their polling locations were unable to find their names on the voters’ register.
“We also have reports that people who did not change their location didn’t see their names on the list of voters. We have called on INEC to look into that,” he added.
On security, Irekandu said the situation remained calm at the time of observation, noting the presence of security operatives at polling centres.
“Concerning security, we are doing fine. We have not had any security issue. We have seen security operatives, but we would also want to advise them not to let down their guards because we don’t want disruption and bloodshed of any kind,” he said.
Irekandu described the voter turnout as encouraging, saying residents appeared determined to participate in the electoral process.
“The turnout is fine. The people are impressed and well informed. They really want to cast their votes for the incumbent Governor because of his achievements. Imole has already won,” he said.
The developments across the monitored areas indicated a generally peaceful commencement of the election, although isolated logistical and accreditation challenges were recorded at some polling units.
As voting continued, voters urged INEC to promptly address technical and voter-verification challenges while calling on political parties, candidates, their supporters and security agencies to sustain the peaceful atmosphere and allow citizens to freely exercise their constitutional right to vote.
