Ondo poll: governorship election peaceful in Akoko, says ex-Speaker

The Ondo State governorship election was peaceful in Akoko North East and Akoko North West Local Government Areas of the state, our correspondent reports.

Our correspondent who visited the two local government areas, reports that people trooped out in their numbers to exercise their civic duty in spite of the rain that had earlier threatened to distrupt voting process.

Speaking with our correspondent in Ikare, Taofeeq Abdulsalam, a former Speaker, Ondo State House of Assembly, said that the election was peaceful without any rancour.

However, Abdulsalam, also a former Commissioner for Works, decried the level of vote buying across the local government as pathetic.

“So far so good, the election has been peaceful except that people are buying votes which is not the best, and it doesn’t show that democracy is Improving.

“You see where people pay as much as N5,000 to N10,000 for a vote and our people are collecting it because of circumstances in which they found themselves.

“There is poverty all over the places and people don’t think they are selling the next four years of their lives.

“But apart from the vote buying all over Akoko North East Local Government, election is peaceful.

According to him, he has called the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, DSS and Police to inform them of the vote buying.

Abdulsalam, who commended the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the roles it played, said security agencies needed to find a way to reduce vote buying in the country.

INEC has been trying its best, but it is going to be difficult for it to do something in that regard.

“The people that can do it better are security agencies because INEC’s presiding officers can not be moving around.

“At least we have about four security agents in each polling booth,” he said.

But Fatai Adams, the state chairman of PDP, who cast his vote at Unit 5, ward 7, Oyi in Irun Akoko, told NAN that he had not received any official report on vote buying.

“I have not received official report about other wards across the state but in my unit there is no vote buying or inducement. People are voting with their conscience.

“And my expectation is that people of Ondo State should be able to vote right and get it right,” he said