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After months of intense politicking and anxiety, the Ondo
State governorship election ended yesterday with Governor Segun Mimiko of
the Labour Party emerging victorious.
The announcement of the results by
the Independent National Electoral Commission began at 2:55am today and ended
at 4:30am when the process was discontinued. One of the INEC
officials told the gathering of electoral officials, party agents and
security agents that more declaration of the results would resume at 10am.
As of the time the announcement was
stopped, the results from 15 Local Government Areas had been announced. The
results clearly showed that Mimiko’s victory at the poll was all but
assured.
Out of the 15 LGAs, the LP candidate
won in 12 LGAS including Akoko South-East, Akoko North-East, Akoko North-West
and others. The Action Congress of Nigeria candidate, Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu, won
in two local government areas, while the Peoples Democratic Party candidate,
Olusola Oke, won in one.
ACN won in Akeredolu’s local
government, Owo, and Senator Ajayi Boroffice’s Akoko South West Local
Government Area. PDP won in Okitipupa Local Government Area.Results from three
local government council areas were not declared.
Mimiko started the day on a good note
winning his polling unit whereas the Action Congress of Nigeria candidate, Mr.
Rotimi Akeredolu, lost his polling unit and ward to the governor’s party.
Mimiko polled 348 votes at his Ondo
Ward 7 Unit 20, while the PDP and the ACN scored 18 and 16 respectively. Voters
across Ondo trooped out to the streets after Mimiko’s victory in his ward.
Akeredolu scored 139 in his Ward 5
Unit 6 in Owo, while Mimiko scored 144 votes, just as the PDP polled 35.
It was also gathered that the PDP
lost at the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta, Mr. Kingsley
Kuku’s polling unit, RCM Unit 2, Arogbo Ward1. The result showed that the LP
polled 97; PDP, 85; and ACN 16.
At Adumasi House, Unit 04, Ilepa Ward
II, Ikare, Akoko North-East Local Goverment Area, ACN had 82 votes with the LP
polling 100 and PDP, 60.
There was jubilation in Akure, Ondo
and Owo towns when news filtered in that the LP was leading in the
results announced at the various polling units in the state.
There were altercations between
loyalists of LP and the ACN in some parts of Oka, Ikare and Akungba over the
election results.
Some of the ACN members had accused
the ruling LP of engaging in ballot stuffing in some areas.
Despite initial fears of voter
apathy, there was a high turnout of voters in most parts of the state.
In Ondo-North Senatorial District of
the state, voters trooped out to polling centres amidst tight security by the
joint patrol team comprising army, police, civil defence and men of the State
Security Service.
As early as 6am, security agents were
seen patrolling all major roads in the district.
Stern-looking security men mounted
roadblocks and stopped vehicles from Okene, Benin and Abuja at the Ondo State
borders.
Helicopters of the Nigeria Police
Force and the Nigerian Air Force kept the state under surveillance during the
period of voting.
In Oka, Ikare, Arigidi, Akungba and
other communities in the Ondo-North Senatorial District, voters were at polling
centres as early as 6:30am.
By 7am, electoral officers were at
the polling stations awaiting materials from INEC officials.
Accreditation began in some of the
units at exactly 8am while it was delayed in others areas till about 9a.m, as a
result of logistics.
In Unit 8, Ward 6, Ayegunle via
Oka-Akoko, voters were already being accredited as of 8am, with agents of the
PDP, LP and ACN present.
At Unit O4 Ward II, palace ward, CAC
and others in Ikare, young and elderly men, women and youths jostled for
accreditation and voting.
The Supervisory Presiding Officer in
Ikare, Mr. Oladele Adebisi, expressed deep concern that some of the presiding
officers recruited for the exercise did not turn up.
He said, “We are happy that the
people are complying, and we are working hard to meet up with time and finish
with accreditation on schedule.
“The only challenge we have is
shortage of hands in some units. So now I am looking for more hands for units
where there are more people.
“There is supposed to be an Assistant
Polling Officer with one APO I and II, two each in each unit. But some of those
billed to work are not available.”
The Ofua of Ikareland, Chief Alfred Omotola,
described the turnout of voters as impressive.
He said, “We are peace-loving people.
We are orderly here. There is no problem at all. I have come here to do my
accreditation, and I have been accredited.
“No one will be forced to vote for a
party when voting begins. Everyone will vote for a party of his or her choice.”
In some polling units, security
agents were seen screening voters before being allowed to queue up for voting.
In Unit 10, Ward 5, where Boroffice
registered, two regular policewomen were on ground, but the senator complained
about inadequate security personnel in his unit.
He expressed fears of possible
disruption of the exercise as some unnamed persons had earlier threatened to
disrupt the exercise.
However, he said a detachment of soldiers
on guard about 500 meters away from the booth had assured the people of
adequate security of their votes.
In Ugbo, stern-looking and heavily
armed soldiers appeared to be in a show of power with the police.
A police detachment was refused
passage by armed soldiers, who barred motorists from moving before 5pm.
Entreaties by the leader of the
police detachment to the soldiers fell on deaf ears as the soldiers only
allowed journalists passage after proper identification.
The police detachment had to stay in
the queue like civilians while bemused members of the public watched the scene.
Police siren-blaring vehicles were
warned by soldiers at checkpoints.
Some residents, who defied the
movement restriction order, were made to jump along the road by the soldiers