Voter Apathy, Malfunctioned BVAS, Violence Mar Ogun By-election

Voter apathy in addition to malfunctioned Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) affected the conduct of the Home of Representatives by-election for the Ikenne, Remo North and Sagamu Federal Constituency of Ogun State on Saturday.

This got here on the heels of mid-day’s sporadic gunshots and poll packing containers snatching that additionally greeted the train in Iperu Remo, the house city of the incumbent governor of the state, Prince Dapo Abiodun.

On the Igan/Ajina Polling Unit 16, ward 2 in Remo North Native Authorities, there have been 445 registered voters on the centre however as of 11am when LEADERSHIP visited, solely 64 voters had turned up and have been accredited to vote, whereas the BVAS machine additionally encountered challenges of figuring out aged voters.

One in all such aged voters was a 70-years, Sobanke Fasasi who lamented his lack of ability to vote for the candidate of his selection as a result of failure of the BVAS machine to recognise him.

Pa Fasasi did not vote regardless of repeated trials on the Wesley School Isara 2, Polling Unit 006 and Polling Unit 005 in MoborodeOke – Ola space of Remo North LGA the place voters turnout was additionally poor.

This was attested to by an advert hoc workers of the Impartial Nationwide Electoral Fee (INEC), feminine Corps member telling journalists that the BVAS was failing to recognise aged voters even after a number of trials.

Low voter turnout was additionally recorded on the Ajegunle Ward 6, Polling Unit 1 in Ogere, Ikenne native authorities space, in addition to Polling Unit 005, City Planning in Ilisan 1 the place 953 was recorded as registered voters however 98 voters have been accredited for the by-election scheduled to finish at 2: 30pm.

In the meantime, on the Wesley Nursery & Main School in Iperu, Polling Unit 04 and Polling Unit 05, in Iperu 3 Space of Ikenne native authorities space the place the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) within the 2023 election, Hon. Oladipupo Adebutu normally forged his vote, solely 123, out of the 750 registered voters have been accredited as at 12:03pm when LEADERSHIP visited.

In the meantime, the by-election, which commenced peaceable within the morning assumed a harmful dimension mid-afternoon when armed hoodlums, suspected to be political thugs stormed the Wesley Nursery & Main School in Iperu Remo and began capturing sporadically into the air.

The thugs, numbering about six, masked in hoods and rode on two bikes popularly referred to as “okada’ and began capturing their dane weapons, thereby forcing accredited voters on the queue and journalists to scamper for security, whereas that they had a free day carting away the poll packing containers.

Additionally earlier within the day, the state Commissioner of Police, Lanre Ogunlowo denied data of the arrest of a PDP chieftain, who was allegedly caught with an undisclosed sum of cash at an lodge in Iperu-Remo.

When contacted, CP Ogunlowo mentioned the Command was investigating the purported arrest.

An unverified viral video had claimed that Chairman of the PDP within the state, Abayomi Tella, and two INEC workers – Toryem Joe-Stans and Mandara Amina Mamman have been arrested in reference to an enormous amount of cash suspected to be for vote shopping for within the ongoing Remo Federal constituency by-election.

The CP mentioned, “We’re investigating the matter, that’s how a lot I can say for now, you might please name again later within the day for additional data”.