A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Prof. Adio Afolayan, has described the seamless operation of BIMODAL Accreditation System for the conduct of ongoing governorship election in Ekiti by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as excellent.
Afolayan, who is also the Commissioner for Local Government Affairs in Ekiti, made the commendation on Saturday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) at Efon-Alaaye, after casting his votes.
INEC is adopting BIMODAL Accreditation System, in which accreditation and voting were done simultaneously in the Saturday governorship election.
According to Afolayan, it took less than five minutes for a voter to accredit and vote simultaneously.
“Comparing INEC now to the previous elections, arrangement is assuming excellent.
“So far, INEC arrangement is so superb and okay. Within five minutes, one is accredited, do the voting, unlike before you accredit, hours later you still queue to cast your vote,” Afolayan said.
He also lauded the peaceful conducts of the electorate, saying that people conducted themselves peacefully without any bickering.
Afolayan voted at Ward 4, Unit 4 at Efon-Alaaye in Efon Local Government area rea of Ekiti.
However, some voters in Ifaki-Ekiti, raised alarm that the Bi-modal Voter Accreditation System (BIVAS) machines were not functioning well in many areas of the town.
They consequently called on INEC to intervene so that they do not miss out in electing candidates of their choice, in the exercise which they said would officially close at about 2.30p.m.
NAN reports that at Omi-Oniyo Voting Unit, in Ifaki-Ekiti, the hometown of Segun Oni, the candidate of Social Democratic Party (SDP), out of the over 500 voters registered in the area, only two persons had been able to vote, as at about 9.30 a.m.
An elderly woman, who spoke on the development on condition of anonymity, said she had been on queue since about 7.09 a.m, but has yet to be accredited, not to talk of voting.
NAN further reports that same scenario was playing out in some polling units in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital.
Meanwhile, Mr Fidelix Nweke, the Coordinator, Women and Youths Pathfinders Initiative, Abuja, lauded the peaceful conduct of the electorate in Efon-Alaaye during the Saturday governorship election.
Nweke told NAN in Efon-Alaaye
that there has not been any report of violence in areas visited by the group.
He also lauded the massive turnout of voters for the exercise.
“We are in Ekiti to observe the election process; we have being going round and in the areas visited so far, the turnout had been very impressive.
“We wish it can continue like this; we have not seen any atom of violence anywhere.
“It has been very peaceful; we also wish it can continue like this till the end of the election,” Nweke said.
He called on the people to ensure that peaceful atmosphere being witnessed now was maintained.
The group coordinator said that before any election could be adjudged free, fair and credible, it must be peaceful.
He said, “From what we have seen so far, if the election continues like this till the end of the exercise by remaining peaceful, this election can be adjudged as a peaceful election.”
Also, Mrs Kemi Elebute-Halle, the Governorship candidate of the Action Democratic Party, (ADP), insisted that she was still in the race.
Elebute-Halle, addressing newsmen said: “ It is a lie concocted by those afraid of my rising profile.
“Having come this far, it would be cowardly of me to back out.
“I’m set to win this election. In another 30 minutes, I will be joining my supporters to cast my vote,” she said.
(NAN)