.Ighodalo, Okpebholo, Oshiomhole too

.BIVAS fails in Shaibu’s unit

.Police arrest suspected thugs with guns

By Jimitota Onoyume, Ozioruva Aliu and Akpokona Omafuaire

BENIN CITY – THERE was encouraging voter turnout in Edo State on Saturday despite the rain that fell in Benin City and other parts of the state as people turned out to cast their votes at the various polling units across the state.

The state governor, Godwin Obaseki arrived at his polling unit Unit 06, Ward 12 of Oredo local government area and went through accreditation by 11:51 pm he voted and while speaking to journalists thereafter said he was satisfied with the army that had provided security.

According to him “You can see despite the inclement weather people have turned out in their large numbers. You can see the enthusiasm.

“It is not mid-day yet and the ballot box in my polling unit is already full. And so clearly that tells you that people are very interested because they have been mobilized. And have been very interested in this election. This is why I am not surprised.

“For now I am glad with what I see, the process in my units has been smooth. I hope the collation process will be the same. It will be peaceful and the results will be counted and there will be no destruction.

“I am glad with the extent of military presence in the state. As you know the federal security agencies have taken over the state. I am not the Chief Security Officer of the state, the Inspector General of Police, IGP is the Chief Security Officer.

“The military has done well. The Chief of Defence, CDS came to see me and gave assurances that his men would be on the ground. And we see that deployment. Clearly we are not too sure what the Police are doing. As I speak some people claimed to be policemen at the Ogbe polling field trying to arrest people on election day and in their polling units.”

At Ward 6 Unit 2 still in the Oredo local government Area, the candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Olumide AKpata voted and called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to ensure that what he experienced at the centre replicated all over the state and allow the peoples’ vote to count.

He said the Edo State election is an off-circle election and there would be no reason for security agencies and the election umpire to fail.

According to him “The process went well, I want to hope that this is the experience of every Edo voter, but I’m not going to make that assumption standing here, I want to wait for feedback from my agents across the state, its 192 wards, 4500 polling units.

“We are hopeful that this will be the experience of every Edo voter and I am calling on INEC that the playing field should remain level, nobody should be given any undue advantage, all of our agents should be allowed into collation centres, the agent of all parties, nobody should be hindered, prevented from going into the collation centre, so that we can all witness the process, and be able to confirm that it was done in the manner as provided by law, the electoral act and the constitution.

“So, INEC has no excuse, this is an off-cycle, and they have the luxury to deploy their resources.

“All eyes are on INEC, the entire country is on INEC, and we are hoping that they will do a good job.

“It left to see if the heavy deployment of security personnel to Edo is for the people or the certain individual”.

There was a turnout of voters in the Edo Central senatorial district of the state. In Idinrio, Okaigben in ward 1 Unit 3, where the PDP candidate, Dr. Asue Ighodalo voted, the voters organised themselves under a canopy to avoid being beaten by the rain and waited patiently for the arrival of the INEC officials.

Ighodalo lamented the lateness of INEC officials and electoral matters in the area and called for a three-month extension to accommodate every voter.

Speaking after he eventually cast his vote, Ighodalo said “We have been here for about two hours now, some even five hours and more. It is good we have been able to cast our ballots. However, I am not happy with the process that delayed the coming of materials. Again this is a single state election. INEC had all the time to prepare having said that the good thing is that the people have been calm, they remained very patient and made up their minds that they would stay here, they waited and cast their votes. And nothing will deter them.”

On the election, he said “I get good feeler from other places showing we are doing very well. We are very comfortable with it. What we are not comfortable with is the APC guys, we have rumours and seen that the APC guys are trying to undermine the process. Many of them have been caught with PVC, and ballot papers..they go round to buy votes and hear the rate now is fifteen or twenty thousand naira.

“They have tried everything to subvert the process. It’s when you don’t have anything to offer the people that you try to undermine the process. By and large, we expect to win. We will win this election hands down. We will move our state to the next level. I am very proud of the Nigerian military. They have made me proud. People should step out to vote.”

In Etsako West local government area, there was a failure of BIVAS in Unit 5, Ward 11 where the reinstated deputy governor, Comrade Philip Shaibu voted. Some of the voters expressed disappointment in the INEC and the BIVAS not working. On his part, Shaibu said the situation was capable of disenfranchising over 2000 voters.

On his part, Senator Adams Oshiomole denied the allegation that the All Progressives Congress had already stock-piled money to buy votes of the people during the election.

Oshiomole speaking with journalists shortly after casting his votes at Iyamho, Ward 10 Unit 01 in Etsako West Local Government Area said, ” It is laughable when I heard this kind of allegation. Have you seen anywhere where they are sharing money? People turned out in large numbers to vote for us because they wanted good government. During our campaign, people came out to see me not because I wanted to give them something but because of what I have done for them while I was in the office as the governor.

By 7:20 am, INEC adhoc staff were already at Ogbe Primary School which is Rack Centre to collect materials for onward movement to the various polling stations even as they expressed optimism that the exercise would be peaceful.

At the Oredo local government area office of the INEC where there was an alleged shooting the previous day and attempts to divert ballot materials, there was peace and virtually every voting material had been taken away by the parties as of 7:30 am when Vanguard visited the area.

There was a slight delay at the Oba Market Benin City which is Ward 12 as by 9:06, election materials were just arriving in the area which has six polling units. There was no reason given by the INEC as when one of them was asked the reason for the delay he simply said “But we are here and you can see us already preparing to start voting.”

In Ologboshere Primary School, Ikpoba-Okah which has 23 polling units and where the deputy governorship candidate, Osarodion Ogie Esq stayed in the queue and voted, materials arrived as early as 7:30 am and by 8:00 am, voting had commenced in some of the units and Ogie voted at about12 noon.

In Akoko-Edo local government area in Edo North, accreditation started in Unit 6, Ward I at about 8:30 am and the presiding officers used the opportunity to explain to all the voters who had come to vote in terms of what is expected of their conduct. Accreditation and voting are going on peacefully without any challenge as at the time of filing this report.

The police said it arrested suspected thugs with guns in its midnight raid.

The Force Police Public Relations Officer (FPRO), Olumuyiwa Adejobi said Edwin Obanor, 43-year-old and Audu Tajudeen, a 41-year-old from Ugbogbo quarters, Igara Akoko –Edo were arrested on a tip-off.

He said “Acting on a tip-off that some individuals had been armed to cause mayhem and disability during the election on Saturday, the police operatives swooped into action and apprehended Obanor, a leader of an armed group, at Oredo Ward 4 at about 9 pm and Audu Tajudeen at Igara Akoko, Edo, on the eve of the election. Upon searching the bags in their possession, three cut-to-size locally fabricated pistols were discovered on Obanor, while one locally made gun was recovered from Tajudeen.

“These arrests are a testament to the Nigeria Police Force’s commitment to maintaining law and order and ensuring a peaceful electoral process. The police and other supporting security agencies will not tolerate any form of violence or disorderliness during the election in Edo State.

“The suspects are currently in custody and will face the full weight of the law. The Police reassures the public of its dedication to protecting lives and property and, therefore, urges citizens to report any suspicious activities to the nearest police station or via our published helplines.”