Low Voter Turnout in Ilawe-Ekiti During Governorship Election

Ilawe-Ekiti had a low voter turnout on Saturday during the governorship election in Ekiti State.

A correspondent from the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) visited the town and saw that many residents were busy with their businesses. Others were at home doing chores.

NAN also saw that INEC officials were at Polling Unit 3, Ward 2, waiting for voters. Security agents were also present at the polling unit.

In Unit 4, Ward 1, and Unit 11, Ward 1, the polling unit of Senate spokesperson Yemi Adaramodu, INEC officials were still waiting for voters to arrive.

Folorunso Ojo, a community leader, reacted to the low turnout. He said people might not trust the electoral process anymore.

He urged residents who had not voted to come out and fulfill their civic duty.

Meanwhile, there were delays in the accreditation process at Ward 6, Unit 005, in Oke Iyinmi area of Ado Local Government. The Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) had trouble capturing the fingerprints and faces of some elderly voters.

NAN reported that electoral officials struggled with the BVAS machine. They had to make several attempts before some voters could be accredited.

Gabriel Ojo, an elderly man, called the situation unfortunate. He asked INEC to make the voting process better for older people.

"I am here to cast my vote but the INEC officials told us that BVAS is not capturing the aged voters, saying we should wait.

"We are waiting for the BVAS to capture us so as to enable us to cast our votes," he said.