Osun Decides: Atmosphere calm as voters turn out early amidst heavy security presence in Osogbo, Ede, others

By Isa Isawade

Voters in Osogbo, the Osun State capital, in a calm atmosphere, turned our early on Saturday to exercise their franchise in the governorship election even as a huge population of armed security personnel flooded all nooks and crannies of the city.

Heavy security presence is observed around polling units across the city of Osogbo.

It will be recalled that the Force Public Relation Officer at the Stakeholders’ Engagement meeting at the Police Headquarters in Osogbo on Thursday informed the public that over 15,000 personnel had been deployed in the state and that four personnel would man each polling unit.

There has also been an encouraging turnout of voters in Ilesa East, Ilesa West, Ede North, Boripe and Osogbo Local Government Areas.

Voters were seen as early as 6:40 a.m. at many of the polling units in the areas.

At Ward D1, Unit 8 in Ilesa West council area, INEC officials were on ground, while voters were seen checking their names on the pasted voters’ list.

The Presiding Officer at the unit, Mr Segun Adegbaju, said he and other officials arrived at the polling unit at 6:59 a.m.

Similarly at Ward 8, Unit 3 within the council area, a large number of voters were seen checking their names on the pasted list, while INEC ad hoc staff were also on ground.

The Assistant Presiding Officer, Mr Cestus Akilolu, while addressing the voters, said accreditation and voting would commence at 8:30 a.m. and end at 2:30 p.m.

Akilolu urged the voters to remain orderly, assuring them that the process would be peaceful.

At Ward 4, Unit 6, Ede North Local Government Area, INEC ad hoc staff arrived early, while voters also turned out early for the exercise.

Also at Ward 4, Unit 6, Abere, Ede North, voters were seen as early as 7 a.m. checking their names on the pasted list, with INEC ad hoc staff on ground.

At Owode-Ede, voters had gathered at their polling units in large number as of 8:00 am, waiting to vote.

At Ward 4, Unit 13, Osogbo Local Government Area, voters arrived as early as 6:50 a.m., awaiting the arrival of electoral officials and voting materials.

At Ward 3, Unit 16, Iragbiji, Boripe Local Government Area, voters were also seen waiting for the arrival of electoral officials.

Some of the electorate expressed satisfaction with the early arrival of INEC ad hoc staff at the polling units.

As of the time of filing this report, voting had yet to commence at some of the polling units visited, as the exercise was scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m.

The situation in Ejigbo Local Government Area, particularly at Moyofade Ward 14, also remained calm on Saturday as residents turned out well to participate in the election.

Large number of voters have arrived at many polling units by 8 a.m.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) ad hoc personnel were already at their designated locations preparing for accreditation and voting.

The Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) devices were also observed to be functioning properly, while voters checked the voter register displayed on the walls ahead of accreditation.

Security personnel were also deployed to various locations within the ward, helping to maintain order and ensure a peaceful conduct of the election.

The atmosphere remained peaceful across the area, with no major incident recorded as voting activities continued.

Voters have also turned out largely in Gbongan, Ayedaade Local Government Area with voting commencing at about 9:20 am. INEC ad hoc staff had just concluded education of voters on voting process.

As of now, there has not been any reported case of violence or altercation.