POOR turnout, non-arrival, late arrival of electoral officers and materials marred the conduct of the local government elections in Oyo State on Saturday. 

In particular, the tale of poor turnout and late arrival of electoral officers was similar across many voting units.

Across many polling units, electoral officers did not arrive before 9 a.m.

When Sunday Tribune arrived at some polling units, between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m., electoral officers were largely idle as voters barely showed up for the exercise.

In Ward 12, Unit 16, Ibadan South East Local Government Area, 17 voters out of 613 registered showed up; at Unit 35, Ward 12 of the same local government, 23 out of 520 eligible voters showed up.

At Open Space, Ward 12, Unit 5 of Ibadan South East, 31 out of 355 registered voters had come as of 1.35 p.m., while at Unit 14, Ward 9, 12 out of 358 voters turned up. 

In Ibadan South West Local Government Area, at Unit 14, Ward 9, 12 out of 358 voters came out to cast their ballots; at Unit 29, Ward 9, 35 out of a total of 846 voters showed up to exercise their franchise. 

In the same vein, voters who had turned up at some voting units waited in vain as electoral officers failed to show up.

In Ibadan South East Local Government Area, voters registered in Unit 14 and 15 in Ward 12 as well as in Unit 15 in Ward 9 waited in vain for electoral officials who failed to arrive.

The story was the same in Unit 47, Ward 9 in Ibadan South West Local Government Area; as well as in some units across the 11 wards in Saki area of the state, where voters waited long hours for electoral officials to arrive.

Meanwhile, security agents were visible at most of the polling units visited by the Sunday Tribune, while party agents of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) were the only ones present at most polling units.

The agent of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) was seen only at one unit out of the units visited.

The Oyo State Independent Electoral Commission (OYSIEC) on Saturday night stated that announcement of results would commence on Sunday at 9 a.m.

APC alleges irregularities

In its assessment of the conduct of the poll, the APC has called for cancellation of the exercise after it described the poll as a sham that is capable of bringing the state to disrepute.

The party called on the OYSIEC to cancel the exercise and reschedule it for another day when it is ready to conduct a free, fair and credible poll.

The APC alleged that cases of non-availability of election officials, disenfranchisement of eligible voters, shortage of voting materials, violence and threat to life marred the poll, adding that the electoral commission appeared helpless to rescue the situation even as voters waited endlessly in most of the affected places.

In a statement issued on Saturday by its Publicity Secretary, Olawale Sadare, Oyo APC disclosed that it would still reject the outcome of the poll even if the electoral commission declares all APC candidates as winners because the poll falls below the minimum global standard of election conduct.

“The best thing is for the commission to suspend the exercise and choose another date for a proper conduct rather than continue to connive with a few anti-democratic elements in the ruling PDP to perpetrate electoral fraud and desecration of democracy in the land,” APC said.

“In the 10 local government councils of Oke-Ogun, the official result sheets known as Form EC8A were withheld by OYSIEC’s electoral officers while political thugs were unleashed on some members of the opposition who asked questions in places like Kajola, Olorunsogo, Itesiwaju, Ibarapa East, Lagelu, Ido, Oyo East, Atiba, Oluyole among others. The chairman of our party in Ibarapa East, Mr Segun Ojediran, was violently attacked by the PDP thugs in Eruwa and he is now receiving treatment in a private hospital.

Meanwhile, Chairman, Oyo State Independent Electoral Commission, (OYSIEC), Isiaka Olagunju, has expressed satisfaction with how the local government election is being conducted in the state.

This is as he said complaints about late arrival of election materials at some polling units had been addressed.

Olagunju gave this assessment at the commission’s headquarters, Agodi, Ibadan, after monitoring the exercise in parts of the state.

Olagunju said: “I am very glad everywhere is calm and there is no violence. We have addressed all concerns about late arrival of election materials at some polling stations.”

Also speaking on the monitoring exercise, the Commissioner of Police in Oyo State, Mr Adebola Hamzat, said the collaborative efforts of security agencies is evidenced by the peaceful election.

He said skirmishes in some parts of the state were being addressed.

“We have deployed enough security personnel, our people would see them everywhere. There is no cause for alarm, so far so good.”

In a related development, Oyo State governor, Seyi Makinde, has commended citizens of the state for turning out to vote during the Saturday election.

The governor also rated the conduct of the election high, stating that the poll compared favourably with elections conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The governor made these statements after casting his vote at Unit 1, Ward 011, Abayomi Open Space, Iwo Road, Ibadan North East LGA of Oyo State.

While addressing journalists after exercising his franchise, Governor Makinde said: “For us in Oyo State, it is almost like a given that democracy at the grassroots is what we practise. This is almost our fifth year in office and we are holding local government election for the second time. 

“Before we came in, it had always been caretaker administration at the grassroots without the people having a say in who should govern them.

“You can see around also that the people are going about, performing the exercise peacefully and the traffic restriction is being obeyed by the people. So, I will commend our people for coming out to take democracy seriously at that level.”

The governor, who noted that the security report about the election had been excellent, said those who observed any untoward development should report the same to the security agencies.