The governorship candidate for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Biodun Oyebanji, has taken an early lead in the ongoing Ekiti gubernatorial election.
In Oye Local Government Area, APC polled 13,396 votes; Social Democratic Party (SDP) 5,391; while Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) got 4,122 votes.
Also, in Ido Osi Local Government Area Oyebanji was declared the winner. APC polled 10,321 votes; SDP polled 9,489, and PDP scored 2,871.
Also, the flag bearer of the SDP in the Ekiti State governorship election, Segun Oni secured 90 per cent of valid votes cast at his Polling Unit 6, Ward 4, located at Town Hall, Ogbon Iro, Ifaki-Ekiti, Ido-Osi Local Government.
He scored 218 out of 242 valid votes cast at the unit. His All Progressives Congress (APC) counterpart, Oyebanji got 15 votes, while the All People’s Party (APP) secured three votes, the PDP two, and Rabiu Kwankwaso’s NNPP two votes.
Similarly, the governorship candidate of the PDP Mr Bisi Kolawole who cast his vote in Ward 8, Unit 1, Efon Alaye, in Efon Local Government Area, polled 98 votes and was declared the winner of the unit by INEC’s ad-hoc staff, after counting of votes.
At Kolawole’s unit, the APC candidate, Oyebanji, polled 13 votes, Labour Party got one vote, SDP two votes. Two void votes were recorded, while the total vote cast was 116.
While in Irepodun/Ifelodun, ward: 006 Igede 2 the APC aspirant polled 1026 against its closest rival who polled SDP: 638, while the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) polled 271.
There were 5835 total registered voters; 2143 total accredited voters; 2091 total valid votes; 52 rejected votes while the total number of votes cast were 2143.
At Oye local government area ward 09, APC got 831; PDP 540; while SDP polled 267 votes.
Also in Oye local government area ward 03, APC polled 899; SDP 610; and PDP 296 votes.
The candidate of APC also wins Fayemi’s ward in Oye local government area with 1,826 votes; while PDP got 172 votes and SDP 144 votes.
The PDP candidate Bisi Kolawole wins his ward in Efon local government area with 904 votes while APC polled 376 and SDP 33 votes.
In Irepodun/Ifelodun local government area ward 007, APC polled 730; PDP 368 and SDP 461 votes.
Meanwhile, in Efon local government area ward 10, the APC polled 453; PDP 808 and SDP got 39 votes.
Earlier, Oyebanji who cast his ballot at about 10:00 am at Polling Unit 003, Ikogosi Town, Ekiti West, commended the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the peaceful coordination of the polls so far.
He described Saturday’s election as an improvement from the last one, the governorship candidate said it is too early to predict the winning candidate – even though he is hopeful of victory.
“Today’s outing is an improvement from the last time. I have cast my vote and it was seamless. I must commend INEC for this improvement but I hope that it’s like that across the state. This is just a unit and we have over 2,000 units.
“My expectation is for me to win. But it is too early to predict.”
Oyebanji was accompanied by his wife and running mate, Monisade Afuye.
CSOs thumb up for INEC on Ekiti guber
The Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room Situation Room has rated the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC high in terms of logistics and commencement of voting in the Ekiti State governorship election.
An interim report jointly signed by the convener Ms Ene Obi co-conveners Ms Asmau Joda and Mr James Ugochukwu on Saturday in Ekiti.
The Situation Room is made up of over 70 Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) working in support of credible and transparent elections in Nigeria.
It stated that the Situation Room observed early arrival of poll officials and election materials in 93 per cent of the polling units observed.
The statement reads in part, “Set up was done promptly and polls commenced before 9:00 am in at least 88 per cent of the locations.”
It said this is an improvement of both the Anambra State Governorship Election 2021 and FCT Area Councils Election 2022.
The situation room said that at the time of issuing the release, the election had been generally peaceful, with voters civilly conducting themselves in most of the polling units.
It said the redistribution of voters done by INEC still does not take care of the issue of large number of voters in some polling units as many new polling units had abysmally low numbers while older polling units remain overcrowded.
It said, “There are also polling units sited in private residences such as PU006 Omiragunsin’s House, Okemesi Ward 1, Ekiti West LGA and PU003 in front of Ezekiel’s House Alafia Iroro Imegun, Ward 3 Araromi Omuo, Ekiti East LGA.”
On the performance of Bi-Modal Verification Accreditation System (BVAS), the Situation Room said that observations indicated the BVAS was functional in at least 76 per cent of the voting locations.
The situation room, however, said, that there had been many reports of delays and malfunctioning of BVAS machines in voting units especially those with many registered voters.
It cited examples of the locations where the machines malfunctioned to include PU 002 Igbaletere by Mechanic Workshop, Ward 6 Ado Okeyinmi, and Ado-Ekiti LGA where the Machine was going on and off intermittently.
The situation room added that at PU 007 LA Primary School Oke Afin, Otun Ward III and PU018 Igogo Ward II both in Moba LGA, the BVAS failed, as well as at PU 014, Ward I Okemesi, Ekiti West LGA, among others.
“Furthermore, INEC’s distribution of the BVAS devices was not proportionate to the population of registered voters by polling unit.
“The Situation Room stated that poll officials gave priority to Persons With Disabilities (PWD) voters, elderly persons and pregnant women in most of the polling units observed.
“However, citizens refused to recognise people with albinism as persons with disabilities (PWDs), thereby failed to accord them special consideration at the polling units. Also, voting cubicles were not easily accessible to PWDs,” it said.
The situation room added that there were reports of widespread vote buying by political party agents across the 16 Local Government Areas of the state.
“In many instances, voters were induced with money ranging from N4,500 to N10,000 by asking them to flag completed ballot papers as proof of voting in the specified manner in what they term See and Buy.
“Situation Room strongly condemns this blatant violation of the electoral law.”
On presence, conduct and welfare of security officials, the Situation Room said that security officials deployed for the election were diverse and cut across the police, Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC), Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) etc.
It observed that security officials arrived at polling units on time and were civil in their conduct.
“However, the impact of their presence was not felt in voters’ coordination at most of the polling units.
“Also, the police failed to halt the apparent vote buying witnessed by observers in virtually all the polling units.”
The situation room called on the people of Ekiti State to continue to conduct themselves in a peaceful and responsible manner.
“We wish to remind the police authorities of their responsibilities to halt and apprehend those involved in voters’ inducement and maintain law and order throughout the process and beyond.
“Situation Room calls on INEC to ensure that the on-going process is concluded transparently and credibly.”
#EkitiDecides: INEC uploads election results in viewing portal
Also, the process of uploading the 2022 Ekiti governorship election results on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) viewing portal has commenced.
The uploading started shortly after the close of voting and sorting of votes in some polling units across the state.
As at 6:55 p.m. on Saturday, results from no fewer than 2,084 units out of the 2,445 polling units across the 16 local government areas in the state had been uploaded on the portal: https://www.inecelectionresults.ng/
Breakdown of the uploaded results, according to local governments, showed that so far, results from all 199 polling units in Efon Local Government and 188 polling units in Ekiti South West Local Government had been uploaded.
It also indicated that results from 84 out of the 112 polling units in Ekiti East Local Government; 177 polling units out of the 145 polling units in Ijero Council Area and 104 polling units out of the 125 polling units in Ikere Local Government had been uploaded.
Already uploaded in the portal as at the time of filing this report were: 279 out of the expected 344 polling units in Ado-Ekiti; 90 out of 91 polling units in Ilejeme and 101 out of the 144 polling units in Ise/Orun Local Government.
Others were: 166 out of 174 polling units in Irepodun/Ifelodun Local Government; 109 out of 189 polling units in Ikole; 167 out of the199 in Oye and 108 from the 166 polling units in Moba Local Council.
Also, 154 results out of the 184 polling units in Ekiti West; 119 out of the 144 polling units in Ido/Osi; 99 out of the 115 polling units in Gbonyin and 93 out of the 94 expected results from Emure Local Government had been uploaded.
At least two candidates contesting the election have accused other contestants and political parties of engaging in vote buying with some party agents paying as much as N10,000 per vote.
Some of these allegations were however substantiated by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, which reportedly made some arrests of suspects for inducing voters.
Sixteen candidates contested for the governorship seat in the state, which has 16 local governments. The Independent National Electoral Commission had announced it would transmit results both electronically and manually.
But while the collation of results were ongoing as at the time of going to press, results from various polling units showed the three leading contestants winning in the respective polling units.
Biodun Oyebanji, the APC candidate, won his polling unit garnering virtually all of the votes. The declared results from PU 003, Ward 06, Ikogosi, Ekiti West showed APC with 296 votes, PDP had 1 and SDP: 0.
Oyebanji also won at the polling unit of Biodun Olujimi, the PDP senator. In PU 7, ward 7, Omuo-Ekiti, Ekiti-east LGA, SDP scored 46 votes, PDP 110 and APC had 141 votes.
Bisi Kolawole, the PDP candidate in the Ekiti governorship election won the polling unit of Ayo Fayose, the former governor of the state and his key backer.
In the result from PU 1, Ward 1, Afao-Ekiti, Irepodun/Ifelodun: PDP had 163, APC got 106 and SDP got 29 votes.
Kemi Elebute-Halle, the governorship candidate of the Action Democratic Party (ADP), lost her polling unit to Biodun Oyebanji, APC’s candidate.
In PU 8, Ward 10, Ikole LG: SDP got 39 votes, PDP had 21, while the APC got 47 votes. Her party, the ADP managed only 32 votes.
Segun Oni, the candidate of the SDP won in places that the APC and even PDP would have been expected to win. In PU02, Ward 10, St Micheal Primary School, Ado-Ekiti, which is the polling where the APC secretariat is situated, SDP won with 211 votes. APC got 198 votes while the PDP had 57 votes.
Oni also won the polling unit of Olubunmi Adetunmbi, the APC senator representing Ekiti north. In PU: 3 Ward 1, Ido Osi, SDP got 253 votes, APC got 39, NNPP had 3, PDP got 4, ADP got 2 votes and APP had just 1.
Segun Oni won the polling unit of Richard Bamisile, the APC lawmaker representing Emure/Gbonyin/Ekiti-east at the house of representatives. PU 5, ward 5, Ekiti-east LGA, SDP scored 87, PDP had 63 and APC had 74 votes.
Bisi Kolawole, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in Ekiti, had earlier said he was impressed with the preparedness of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Speaking to NAN after casting his vote on Saturday, Kolawole said the process was peaceful, but if security operatives notice any form of chaos, they should not hesitate to arrest perpetrators.
“I want to tell you that there are enough security men on ground to ensure peace, but if there is any chaos, I believe the security should be held responsible,” he said.
We are not saying security men should rig the election for anybody, but I want them to do their jobs without favouritism or being partisan.
“So far, so good, I have just finished casting my vote, I think INEC’s preparation for this election is commendable. However, I will urge INEC to continue to improve.”
The election was however not without incident as Kemi Elebute-Halle, governorship candidate of the Action Democratic Party (ADP), alleged that other candidates and political parties were inducing voters with money in the ongoing election.
“At my polling unit here — ward 10, unit eight — we are aware that APC has started buying votes for the sum of N10,000; PDP are buying for N5,000 and SDP for N3,000,” Elebute-Halle said.
Segun Oni, SDP governorship candidate, also made the same allegation. He said he received reports of vote buying in Oye LGA of the state.
He however commended how well the voting process went shortly after casting his vote.
Bamidele, Olujimi, Adetumbi, Others Hail INEC On BVAS
The Senator representing Ekiti Central Senatorial District, Opeyemi Bamidele, on Saturday urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to improve on the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) in the next election.
Bamidele said there was a need for technological innovation to encompass all facets of the electoral process, including accreditation, voting and electronic transfer of votes.
The Senator stated this in Iyin Ekiti, Irepodun/Ifelodun Local Government area, after voting at Ward B unit 003 in the town said electronic transfer of votes would not only improve the poll credibility, but would stamp out the fear of people tampering with results at collation centres.
The chairman, senate committee on judiciary, human rights and legal matters, hailed the security arrangements and massive turnout of voters across the state.
He said the upsurge in number of voters substantiated that Nigeria is having a remarkable improvement in the conduct of elections.
“With BVAS, there is no fear of anybody tampering with the accreditation process and that is the beauty of democracy.
So, the next stage for INEC is having electronic transfer of votes. With this, nobody will have any fear of interception at the collation centres and that will add to the integrity of our election”, he said.
The Senator representing Ekiti South, Mrs Abiodun Olujimi also expressed satisfaction at the large turnout of voters at the poll, describing the process as peaceful and heartwarming.
Olujimi who spoke shortly after casting her vote at Ward 7, Unit 7, Iworo quarters, Omuo-Ekiti, Olujimi said, “the turnout was huge and for the first time, nobody was struggling to snatch the ballot boxes.
“This time, politicians know that there is no short cut, you just have to mobilize, I have been here since morning and the BVAS has not stopped once. People are now better informed and they have turned out en masse to vote.’’
Senator Olubunmi Adetunmbi who is representing Ekiti North at the National Assembly who expressed satisfaction at the presence of heavy security at Ifaki Ekiti said, “This is not a new phenomenon, at every election we should expect the presence of security agents. I am satisfied with what I see. You can see Ifaki is peaceful. Their presence has enhanced the peace of this community.’’
