PRELIMINARY results from Ondo and Akure, the Ondo State capital, indicate that the incumbent governor and candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Dr Olusegun Mimiko, took early lead in yesterday's gubernatorial election.
Reports said that he won in Akure North, Akure South, Ondo East, Ondo West, Ifedore and Idanre -- all in the Central Senatorial District, representing half of the voting population.
Ward-level observations also showed that, except the Action Congress of Nigeria's (ACN)candidate, Rotimi Akeredolu, who lost in his unit and ward, the two other candidates, Chief Olusola Oke of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and LP's Mimiko won their respective units and wards.
At Oke's unit in ward 3 of Ilaje Constituency 1, he polled 178 to Akeredolu's 13 and Mimiko's 3; while Mimiko scored 348, Akeredolu; 16 and Oke 13 at Mimiko's unit, in Ondo town.
The incumbent polled 144 votes against Akeredolu's 139 to claim victory at Akeredolu's expense in the ACN's supposed stronghold.
Accreditation of prospective voters took off behind schedule at remote locations in riverine communities of Ondo South, thus prompting INEC officials to extend accreditation and voting time, thus negating own rule for timeliness.
There were reports of voters not finding their names on the electronic register at different locations, only for polling staff to resort to remediation with the manual register, another example of INEC's failure to sufficiently display the register for voters to cross check before D-Day. INEC, like in Edo State did not update the voter register, thus leaving out a good proportion of persons who may have attained voting age by yesterday.
There are worries that INEC could carry this attitude of 'fire brigade' towards the next general elections of 2015, which could be disastrous for the polity.
As at 8:50am yesterday, majority of the polling units at Sacred Heart Primary School in Akure, the sate capital, had not begun accrediting voters. The centre, which also doubles as a collation centre could also not begin voting as at 1:30pm because ballot papers had not arrived, even though accreditation of voters had been done.
Voting did not take place at Ugbo ward 1, in Ilaje local council in riverine Ondo South because the presiding officers were absent at the polling unit, despite the fact that election materials were supplied by INEC.
As at 3pm when The Guardian visited the polling unit, people were seen complaining that INEC brought the materials, but they did not see the presiding officers.
INEC officials and youth corps members usedas ad hoc staff for the election arrived Arogbo town, in Ese-Odo council area at about 8;15 am, but could not get to their respective polling unit until 11: 00 am due tolate distribution of electoral materials at the collating centre at St. Peter F.A.C Primary School in the coastal town.
However, people in Arogbo came out in large number in their respective wards, waiting patiently for electoral officials and election materials to arrive.
Interim report released by Nigerian Civil Society Election Situation Room, yesterday described the elections as peaceful, while the people conducted themselves in an orderly manner.
The Nigerian Civil Society Election Situation Room, a coalition of civil society organisations with shared interests in democracy and development noted that fieldreports from a network of observers throughout the state indicated that election officials and security agents were deployed in sufficient numbers in most polling units, and that these officials conducted themselves in a professional and commendable manner. Distribution of materials and commencement of accreditation were done timely in most areas, although some centres experienced delays in commencement of accreditation and voting. There were no reports of large-scale disenfranchisement of voters followingthe omission of their names in the voters register.
The release said, "The Nigerian Civil Society Election Situation Room received reports thatsome polling units were overcrowded with as much as over one thousand voters, making it difficult for the election officials posted to the units to control the voters and efficiently manage the election. We were alsoinformed by observers that late redeployment of Electoral Officers constituted a major challenge due to the inability of some of the redeployed officers to locate and arrive at their new postings ontime. The late arrival of these officials delayed the commencement of accreditation in some areas. In some polling units, ballot papers were reportedly supplied in more or less quantity than the number of registered voters. We fear that this could pose challenges during the voting and collation processes." Guardian Newspaper
mimiko is the winner joor
i pray he makes the people proud