Low voter turnout mars Kaduna, Ondo by-elections

There is low voter turnout in the Saturday by-election for the Akoko north-east/north-west seat in the house of representatives. 

The seat became vacant after Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo left the green chamber following his appointment as minister of Interior by President Bola Tinubu. 

A total of eight political parties fielded candidates for the election but it has been a two-horse race between the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Speaking after casting his vote, Ife Ehindero, the candidate of the APC, described the election as hitch-free but complained of the low turnout.

“Usually, during by-elections, the turnout is always low, compared to the general elections. So, we expected that it won’t be as much as that of the general election but the turnout is not as high as we expect. But from what I’m hearing from other polling units, we are hoping that our people will still come out to vote. We still have enough time since it is between 8am and 2pm,” he said.

“The reports we are hearing show that the people are happy. I am optimistic that it is going to be a landslide victory. 

“The security agencies have been of good conduct so far. At my polling unit, security men have been professional and there hasn’t been any report of security breaches across the wards. 

“The voting materials arrived on time. the INEC officials arrived on time and I believe the same thing has been happening across the polling units. Personally, I feel INEC was well prepared for this election.”

On his part, Olalekan Bada, candidate of the PDP, also decried the low turnout but commended the security agents for preventing violent situations during the election.

“Where I voted in Ward 01, Unit 12 in Ikare-Akoko has been very peaceful. I voted around 10:00 a.m., and voting had been going on smoothly. The security arrangement was perfect,” he said.

In Kaduna, there were also reports of low voter turnout in many polling units.. 

The seven constituencies where the by-elections were conducted were Chikun, Igabi, Kaduna South, Kudan, Kachia, Kagarko, and Kauru LGAs.