June 18, (THEWILL) – The governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the ongoing gubernatorial election in Ekiti State, Hon Biodun Oyebanji, has expressed confidence that he will win the keenly contested ongoing election.
Oyebanji spoke in Ikogosi Ekiti, Ekiti West Local Government Area of the state after voting at Okelele ward 06 unit 003 in the town. He was accompanied by his wife, Dr Olayemi Oyebanji, to the unit.
He praised INEC for improving the electoral process through Bimodal Voter Authentication System technology innovation, saying this has made the process faster and more credible.
He hailed the voters for enthusiastically trooping out en masse to cast their vote.
“This is an improvement and my expectation is that I will win. I am happy that there was no case of apathy. The security build-up has also been impressive, so the process has been good and fine.
“I am coming with a change agenda and my manifesto is clear about the changes I am bringing”, he said.
Also, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Bisi Kolawole, has cast his vote at Unit 001, Ward 8 in Efon-Ekiti, Efon local government area of the state.
Kolawole also commended INEC over the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), adding that the use of BVAS had accelerated the process of voting.
“There is an improvement generally in the workings of INEC. The process, compared to previous elections is a great improvement. The accreditation and voting are done simultaneously. The process has been accelerated by this. There is an improvement by INEC.
“We just hope there won’t be manipulation. The process is ongoing. I cannot say there won’t be manipulation, but the security is doing fine. As of now, we are having a peaceful process”, he said.
On his fears for the election, Kolawole said, “The fear is the general one that we are all aware of, but generally, there has been none of such.”
On his part, Segun Oni, the candidate of the Social Democratic party (SDP) cast his vote at at exactly 10:20 a.m. at his Polling Unit 6, Ward 4, Oriolode street in the Ilogbe area of Ifaki Ekiti, in Ido- Osi Local Government Area.
Addressing press after voting right in front of his father’s house at Ilogbe area, the SDP said, “I cannot assess the voting exercise across the state by just voting in a polling unit.
“However, with what I have witnessed here, it is peaceful just that there are reports of votes buying in Oye and some places in Ado, but we have put the security agents on alert to do their job. This is a criminal offence and the security agents must swing into action”, he said.
When asked which party was involved in the vote buying, he said he could not ascertain which party, but he was sure that vote buying was ongoing in some parts of the state..
Meanwhile, the governorship candidate of the Action Democratic Party (ADP), Kemi Elebute-Halle, has alleged that other political parties are inducing voters in the ongoing election.
Elebute-Halle spoke with with newsmen after voting at polling unit eight, ward 10, Ikole LGA in Ekiti.
The female governorship candidate commended the process of accreditation and voting at her polling unit, saying it is credible.
She alleged that the APC, PDP and the Social Democratic Party (SDP) are buying votes with N10,000; N5,000, and N3,000 respectively.
Elebute-Halle asked the voters to vote for the best candidate irrespective of the money they receive from political parties.
“I will tell you that so far so good it has been credible. At my polling unit here — ward 10, unit eight — we are aware that APC has started buying votes for the sum of N10,000; PDP are buying for N5,000 and SDP for N3,000.
“We hope that the whole world is watching them. Something about life is that there is nothing hidden that will not be made open.
“We believe in our people that irrespective of whatever they give them; they will still exercise their civic rights and we are expecting a good change”, she said.
Sixteen governorship candidates are currently vying for the top seat in the 16 LGAs of the state.
