Kunle Adelabu, Mariam & Olatunji Ademola
Royal fathers, candidates and eminent individuals have expressed their satisfaction over the organization of the Presidential and the National Assembly elections held on Saturday in Ikorodu Local Government area of Lagos State, Southwest, Nigeria.
They commended the large turnout of voters, and the way and manner the people conducted themselves during the poll.
Although, there were cases of late commencement of the exercise and complaints of shortage of electoral materials in some units, the election was generally peaceful, safe for a case of impersonation by a Labour Party agent at a polling unit close to the Agric bus stop.
There were security agents – soldiers, Civil defense, DSS and others, at strategic points, while policemen were stationed at polling units.
The Adeboruwa of Igbogbo, His Royal Majesty, Oba Semiudeen Kasali arrived at polling unit 011 (Surulere Estate) at 1.02pm with his wife, Olori Sekinat Kasali, and both cast their votes few minutes later.
The royal father commended the orderliness that characterized the conduct of the elections.
“We want to give God the glory for making today’s event a reality”, Oba Kasali said.
“I am very happy with the way things are going. I have seen that our people came out in their large numbers to cast their votes. What interests me most is the orderliness that we are having. I want to say that everyone should continue to be orderly, and do the needful and wait for the outcome of the election. Thank you very much”.
Senator Tokunbo Abiru, the Senator representing the Lagos East Senatorial District who is seeking re-election for the second term, while addressing reporters after voting at Odugate Street in Ikorodu, asked residents of Ikorodu to congratulate themselves for the turnout, while commending the turnout and the general conduct of the election.
“I think we should congratulate ourselves. I think that the consciousness among all of us as to our civic responsibility is actually encouraging. You can see a lot of people coming out today which is also an attestation to our political consciousness”, the Senator said.
“On that note, I want to congratulate all of us and I am sure it also has to do with the canvassing and the campaign that all the participants have taken part in.
“We might say that we started very late, particularly in this polling unit, because this is about 12pm. I am sure that is not unconnected to the logistics around the country right now in terms of movement and all of that. At the end of the day, we can all attest that everything is peaceful and that is part of what we want, and by the end of the day, we will see a full manifestation of the will of the people. At this point, I don’t want to predict, but I am sure that the obvious is known to all of us”, he said.
“For some of us who have done very well, this is not the time to campaign and I am sure the outcome of today will attest to what we have done, thank you very much”, Senator Abiru added.
The representative of Ikorodu Federal Constituency, Rep. Babajimi Benson who voted at polling unit 001 (Molatori palace), Ibeshe Road, said that the voting process was seamless.
“It was very good, very seamless. As you can see, I was first accredited using my fingerprints on the BVAS, after which I was given the ballot paper to vote”, he said.
He said that he hopes to see the hope and wishes of Nigerians reflected at the end of the whole exercise when results would be announced.
“My expectation is that the Nigerian people should decide and should decide right and vote for the best man for the job”, he said.
“The good thing is that the materials have gotten to every location, but there will always be problems. I have had some few calls and things are seamless.
“We have a long queue, but people are out to exercise their voting rights. The process is moving, the people are not complaining, the BVAS is doing a good job and without PVC, you can’t vote and you will have to authenticate before you can vote, with either your face or fingerprints”, Rep. Benson added.
He also commended the turnout for the elections.
“The turnout is good and there are many people here, and if you look across the street, you will see them too. When I landed here, I noticed that people were in large numbers”.
Hon. Sanai Agunbiade, the Majority Leader, Lagos State House of Assembly, complained that there is a shortage of voting materials at polling booth 043 beside the Mobil Petrol Station, Grammar School.
The ranking lawmaker also said that the voting process was late, but thanked the INEC officials and security agencies for their collaboration which he said made the process went well.
Like others, he too commended the large voters’ turnout and assured that the people’s choice would emerge at the end of the elections.
“People really trooped out to vote for their preferred candidates which only the results of the election will expose who are the preferred candidates”, he said.
“No matter what happens, the man that has proven himself to have adequate, elaborate and valid electoral precedents will win the election.
“People are voting for individuals who have done well for them and there is a man with track records for political excellence, political reliability who will win the election. We can’t mention names here because this is a polling area and we cannot campaign when elections are ongoing, but we know that at the end of the day, the best candidate will win”, Hon. Agunbiade said.
The Chairman, Ikorodu West LCDA, Otunba Sulaimon Kazeem Olanrewaju, also said that the election experienced good turnout compared to the previous ones.
“The turnout is a bit clergy, compared to other elections that we have been having. People really came out to vote”, he said.
He said that his party is going to win the Presidential election.
”We are still going to win. APC is going to win and Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is going to win”.
Mrs Shittu Shukurat, PDP agent at polling booth 060 where the party’s candidate for the House of Representatives voted, said that the turnout was okay.
Another PDP member, Mrs Alogba Mojisola who voted at polling booth 013, Allison Street, lkorodu, said that the turnout was encouraging, but complained that some of the voters were disenfranchised.
“We thank the Almighty for the turnout, but some of the members couldn’t find their names on the list. Also, the machine was unable to recognize some faces. We don’t know where we can find their names, but the other booths are okay”, she said.
“The accreditation and the turnout are very okay compared to what we have been having before.
“Hon. Abdulkareem Shittu voted at 10:21am. He voted without any disturbance”.
Speaking on her expectations, she said:
“Everybody is trying their best to win, but it is just a person that will emerge victorious. On our part, we are trying our best to make sure that our own candidate wins”.
