As Ekiti State elects its next governor today, party leaders and the electorate have high hopes for the use of new electronic devices in the election.
In the poll, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announced that results would be transmitted electronically and that the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) would be used.
Mr Jackson Adebayo, a spokesman for Segun Oni Campaign Organization (SOCO), said there was no need to be concerned about the use of the BVAS and the e-transmission of poll results.
“We hope that all of the gadgets work effectively and the entire process is credible,” Adebayo said, expressing concerns about the gadgets’ functionality. We also hope that the gadgets will not be harmed; if all of this is accomplished, we are confident that the exercise will yield positive results.”
Hon Dare Adekolu, the state’s acting chairman of the African Action Congress (AAC), said the expectation is that the entire process will be better and improved.
“In terms of voting and actual votes cast, there will be accuracy,” he said. We want to have faith in INEC’s election-day devices and gadgets. However, we hope that the results of the device will be a true reflection of the electorate’s votes, increasing the credibility of the process.”
The deployment of the gadgets by the electoral body was a welcome development, according to Mr Segun Dipe, the state Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Dipe claimed that the party and its members were fine with the results being sent electronically.
“We are well prepared for the e-transmission of election results and the use of BVAS,” he said.
Adetoye Olatunde, a student, said that while the BVAS’s introduction is positive, its effectiveness on election day is critical.
Meanwhile, Dr Kayode Fayemi, the governor of Ekiti State, and his predecessor, Mr Ayodele Fayose, have appealed for calm in the state’s governorship election today.
Fayemi stated that a peaceful, rancor-free, and transparent governorship election was important to him.
“I want my party’s candidate to win the election, the people’s votes to count and be counted, and to see the good works of the APC in the state to continue beyond October 16, 2022, when he will be leaving the office,” the governor said through his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Yinka Oyebode.
Fayose, for one, stated that the return of the PDP to power in the state was his primary concern.
“It is my interest that the peace and tranquilly enjoyed in the state during his two previous administrations return to the state,” the former governor said through his media aide, Mr Lere Olayinka.
“It is in my interest for the state to see the infrastructural, social, and economic development that the PDP governments pioneered once again.”
“It is also in my interest, as it was under the PDP administration, that watertight security is provided for the protection of lives and property in the state.”
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that security has been tightened in Ekiti ahead of today’s governorship election.
In the state capital, Ado-Ekiti, and other parts of the state, members of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Nigeria Police, Nigerian Army, and other law enforcement agencies were seen on patrol ahead of the election.
A NAN correspondent who was on the ground in Ekiti to observe security preparations for the election saw personnel from the NSCDC and the police stationed at strategic locations throughout the state to ensure a smooth election.
To ensure adequate security, the NSCDC had deployed 9,747 personnel, while the Nigerian police had deployed over 17,000 men.
Mr Joshua Aremu, a resident of Ado-Ekiti, described the security forces deployed in the state for the election as “impressive” in an interview.
Residents’ initial concerns about the election’s peaceful conduct had been allayed, he said, thanks to the large security deployment.
