Pic.9. APC gubernatorial candidate, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu casting his vote, during the 2020 Edo Gubernatorial elections at, Iguadodo Community in Orhionmwon L.G.A of Edo on Saturday (19/9/20).
05203/19/9/2020/Jimah Suleiman/TA/NAN
Some of the electorate who spoke with NAN in separate interviews commended INEC for adhering to the COVID-19 safety protocols during the electoral process.
Mr Benson Ibizugbe said that he was impressed that the process was going on peacefully and violence-free.
Ibizugbe said INEC did a good job by conducting a peaceful election here.
There has not been issues of faulty equipment and they provided face masks for voters who dont have to make them eligible to vote.
An INEC observer, Ada Opkara, from Smile Africa, said that the voting process was seamless and commended the people of Ugboko ward for their peaceful conduct.
I resumed here at 7: 18 a.m. before the INEC staff resumed activities, from that time till now, about three hours later, everywhere is calm.
The electorate are cooperative and they are obeying the rules of COVID-19 and INEC officials, he said.
She expressed optimism that the peaceful atmosphere at the polling unit would continue throughout the voting process going by the presence of security personnel.
Another electorate, Mr Monday Erhabor, said that he was happy that there was no violence at the voting centre.
Everywhere is calm and peaceful, there is no violence, the security is tight and we are sure of a free and fair process, he said..
He stated this, shortly after he cast his vote at 11:48a.m, having joined the queue for hand washing at 10:24a.m.
According to him, to wait for one and half hours on the queue before exercising his franchise is a bit disappointing.
Given that this is a sole day election,I expected a bit more planning and preparation, and resources should have been put into this election.
During the last presidential election in my polling unit, there were two polling points which helped thep voters. You all are witnesses of how long this has taken.
The card reader is working very slowly, and this is the situation in all the major voting centres in Oredo Local Government area of the state as I speak.
In Garrick Memorial Secondary School, I understand that more than 500 voters are already stranded because they cant vote because of the slow processing of the card readers.
One would have expected that INEC will have deployed more card readers and more voting points in highly numbered polling centres, he said.
On the issue of vote buying at polling units, the governor said that the security agencies were not doing what they assured Edo people and Nigerians of, before the election.
The security agencies assured us that they wont allow anybody who dont have business of voting in a particular place to be there, but they are working on the contrary to what they promised us.
You can see cars parked with a lot of cash being disbursed to people and it seems to be normal practice, but we are not perturbed. People know what to do; cash cant buy their future, he added.
Meanwhile, Deputy Inspector General of Police, Adeleye Oyebade, in charge of Edo governoship election, has said nobody who violated electoral laws would be above the law.
Oyebade spoke after inspecting INECs office where the final collation and results of the Edo governorship election would be announced.
He said that the security agencies had appealed to the electorate and major actors not to cross the line, but do the needful.
He explained that the inspection was to further strengthen what was on ground, adding that minor issues that had been brought before the security agencies were being handled.
He noted that every security agency in the state under the banner of Inter Agencies Consultative Committee on Election Security were all involved in the election security to ensure free, fair and acceptable results at the end of the poll.
He said that security agencies were committed to ensuring that the election was conducted peacefully, adding that nothing was too much to sacrifice for the success of the election.
On the allleged shooting of an electorate at Ologbo in Ikpoba-Okha Local Government area and the alleged shooting at Oza, in Orhiomwon Local Government Area, Oyebade said that there was nothing of such.
Source: NAN News