Peaceful election in Kwara as Gov Abdulrazaq commends turn out

The Governorship and House of Assembly elections in Kwara State on Saturday was peacefully conducted as eligible voters came out en mass to polling units in various locations to exercise in their right.

It was observed that materials and INEC officials arrived many places in Ilorin the state capital at 7:30 am and accreditation and voting started between 8:00 to 9:00.

BusinessDay’s checks on areas such as PU 005 Ebu Gada, PU 003 Gmbari junction, PU 06 and PU 02 Opobiyi Agbaji, PU 008 Ode Oloriegbe and PU 004 Idigba Adewole, all in Ilorin West Local governments witnessed peaceful conduct of electorate.

Adequate security were provided by agencies as they manned major roads and streets in the state capital to ensure compliance with election guidelines.

Similarly, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) officials were also present in many areas to monitor the conduct of the elections.

Other areas such as Ilorin East, Ilorin South, Irepodun and Asa local government areas of the state, equally stated early and had peaceful election conducted, which could be an improvement on the last month presidential election when material arrived late at the polling units.

Meanwhile, the state Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, who casts his ballot at 12:48pm at his Idigba Polling Unit 004 of Adewole Ward in Ilorin West, commended the peaceful conduct of the exercise so far.

The Governor, however, urged more voters to come out to exercise their franchise, following reports of low turnouts in some areas.

“It’s been a mixed bag in terms of the turnout appreciably large in some places and quite low in some areas and we urge more people to come out.

Going by the turnout in this polling unit, this is impressive. But nationwide, including in parts of Kwara State, the turnout is a bit lower than the presidential and national assembly elections.

“On the BVAS, the reports so far show that there are improvement, compared to the last elections.” said the Governor

Abdulrazaq commended the orderliness of polling officers, and was upbeat of being re-elected by Kwarans on the back of his performance in various sectors of the state.