Residents of Ogun State have commended the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC for aiding peaceful conduct of the Governorship and House of Assembly Elections in the state.
Most of the voters commended INEC for early arrival of voting materials and for the proactiveness and conduct of it’s staff.
A PDP chieftain, Segun Showunmi who voted at Ward 6 unit 4 , Oju Agemo, Abeokuta South, also affirmed that the process was peaceful in his area.
He commended INEC for the prompt arrival of election materials to the polling units and the seamless voting process.
He however expressed hope that all election results will be transmitted directly from the polling units to the INEC Result Viewing portal IREV, promptly.
Heavy Security presence could be seen at almost every junction within Abeokuta metropolis. Military personnel, officers of the Nigeria Police and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps were on ground to secure the environment.
In most of the Polling Units visited in Abeokuta South and Abeokuta North, Obafemi Owode and Ikenne Local Government Areas, INEC officials arrived at Polling Units at about 7:30am. They set up the cubicles and sorted Voting materials within a short period.
Voting commenced in most of the polling units within Abeokuta metropolis at 8:30am. While some Polling units had voters already waiting earnestly to perform their civic rights, other areas had INEC officials waiting for voters to arrive and perform their civic responsibility.
In Polling Units located in areas like Isale Igbeyin, Centenary Hall, Ake, Oju Agemo, Assassin Compound, Igboone, Mowe-Ibafo, Ofada among others, Voter
turnout was quite impressive as many were already on queue and enthusiastic about the process.
However, there was little drama at Ward 13 unit 2 Isale Igbeyin, Abeokuta South, where unknown hoodlums stormed the polling unit with an axe, carted away ballot boxes and chased away INEC staff on duty.
Also Soldiers of the Nigerian Army arrested four hoodlums with a pistol and a knife on their way to polling units around Sapon in Abeokuta South.
One of the soldiers in a brief interaction told our correspondent at the road block that four persons had been arrested with dangerous weapons which included a gun and a knife .
The soldier whose name was not inscribed on his badge said ” when you see soldiers being hard on anyone, he is not just punishing anyone .
“We arrested four people with gun and knife. What are they doing with the gun and knife at the polling unit?
” I ask you , can you tell me what a voter wants to do with a gun and a knife .
” If they escape from police , they cannot escape from soldiers , we will catch them”.
Meanwhile in most of the areas monitored by our correspondent, it was observed that the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System Machine BVAS worked seamlessly. It authenticated voters within few seconds before they proceeded to cast their votes
