Voters in Ogun LG election.

*Candidates Hopeful of Victory

The local government election in Ogun state early in the morning, recorded a low turnout, with only a handful of voters casting their ballots. But later, more people trooped out to exercise their franchise.

The low turnout earlier, might be due to a delay in the commencement of the election which was scheduled for 8:00 but didn’t commence until 11:04 am, as election officials did not arrive at polling units on time.

Stranded voters and parties’ agents had expressed displeasure over the development, describing it as unfortunate. As of  10: 20 am in Obafemi Owode local Government Nursery and Primary where there are four polling units, no official of OGISEC was on the ground.

Also in Ewekoro Local government, voters were still waiting for the arrival officials as of 10:00 am.

At the same time in Abeokuta South, only security operatives, parties’ agents and a few voters were at polling units but no officials were on the ground to commence the exercise.

Voters have expressed displeasure over the development, describing it as a grave disappointment.

A party agent for the Labour Party, Matthew Ochigbo who doubted the credibility of the exercise, faulted the Ogun State Independent Electoral Commission (OGISEC) for the late commencement.

“I have been here since 7:00 am and nothing is happening yet. No sign at all. I doubt if anything will happen here today”, said Ochigbo.

Rasheedat Jumoke Olude said a voter said” We have been here since 8:00 am and we have not seen any officials. This is where I have been voting.

However, candidates who spoke to journalists after casting their vote at their various polling centres described the process as peaceful, even as they were hopeful of victory.

The APC Chairmanship Candidate for  Abeokuta South, Balogun Olaniyi Afeez said,  “The process was peaceful as you can see. We are appealing to people in Abeokuta South to come out in large numbers and cast their votes.

On the contrary, Oyegbola Sodipo, PDP Chairmanship Candidate for Abeokuta South blamed the OGISEC, saying that the conduct was poor.