Akeredolu laments voters’ apathy

Technology Has Stopped Ballot Snatching, Says Mimiko

Governor of Ondo State, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, has expressed dissatisfaction with the number of voters who came out to vote in his hometown, Owo, headquarters Owo Local Council Area of Ondo State.
Akeredolu who disclosed this while casting his vote at Unit 06, Ward 05, ljebu-Owo, stated that the turnout ought to be larger.

After the initial technical hiccups of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), which lasted for about eight minutes, Akeredolu was accredited at exactly 10:55a.m. and immediately cast his vote.

He said: ”Probably, this initial hiccup applied to me only because several people have passed through this and they didn’t have much problem. And I believe that it was caused by the surging crowd, you know they have to clear the crowd, and at a point, they felt it was because I am wearing white, whichever one, the important thing is that at the end of the day, the BVAS machine captured me. That is all. So, when there is some delay, we should expect it, but I have cast my vote.

“Well, I am not too impressed yet with the turnout, but I expect that many people will come out. But we need to be larger than this, I have always voted here. But I know that people are going to come out. We are more and it is too early in the day now, since they know you come and vote and go. So everybody will come out at their own convenient time. Many people will still come and vote.
“But for me, INEC has displayed their Independence, I don’t see anything they are doing now. At least, at this polling booth, I don’t know what is happening in other places, but they have been cautious. Those who are there, they are cautious and I believe that it is their Independence.”

Meanwhile, former Governor of Ondo State, Olusegun Mimiko, has said that deployment of technology by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has helped to stem incidences of ballot snatching and vote buying.

Mimiko who spoke after voting at his open space polling Unit 20, Ward 7 Ondo West local council of the state, expressed optimism that the outcome of the election is accepted by the people.

He said: “to a very large extent, I have not got any electoral violence, this process is less stressful in a way that you will just come, vote and go away. I have not heard of any report either on ballot snatching, technology has made it a thing of the past. But the report I heard was that some people in some areas are trying to harass people in the rural areas where they perceived they are weak.”