Ogun LG Poll Is Marred By Logistical Difficulties And Voters Apathy

The Saturday local government election in Ogun State was largely characterised by a low turnout of voters and logistics challenges at the early stage of the exercise in most council areas.

Correspondents of the News Agency of Nigeria, who monitored the exercise across the state, report that the elections scheduled to be held between 8am and 3pm did not start until 11am in most of the polling centres.

NAN reports that most of the polling units visited at Oke-Ilewo and Adigbe areas of Abeokuta-South Local Government Area as well as Ibafo and Mowe areas in Obafemi-Owode Local Government Area were virtually empty as of 11am.

NAN checks revealed that election materials and electoral officials left many local government headquarters, including Ado-Odo/Ota, Abeokuta-North, and Sagamu, as late as 11am.

Voting, however, started at around 10.30am in some polling units in Ikenne Local Government Area, including Ward 3, polling units 2 and 3 in Iperu, where Governor Dapo Abiodun was expected to cast his vote.

Residents who turned out for the election expressed disappointment over what they described as a “poor arrangement” for the exercise.

One of them, who simply identified himself as Johnson, told NAN at polling unit 1, ward 15, in the Ijeja area of Abeokuta-South council area that he was not disappointed at the low turnout.

“People don’t usually reckon with local government elections because of large-scale rigging,” he said.

Meanwhile, the restriction order on movement was strictly enforced in most of the local government areas, as officials of the state Traffic Management Agency were seen mounting roadblocks to ensure compliance.

A heavy presence of security personnel was also noticeable in major streets across the state to ensure peace and orderliness.

(NAN)