7th December, 2019
The Ekiti Local Government election held across the 16 council areas of the state on Saturday witnessed a low turnout and was generally peaceful.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria, apart from a lone incident of shooting said to have occurred at a polling unit in Ikere Ekiti, there was no confirmed report of violence.
Witnesses said the incident began at Okitiko area of Ikere Ekiti on Ise/Emure Ekiti road after political thugs reportedly tried to snatch the ballot boxes of votes already cast from officials of the Ekiti State Independent Electoral Commission(EKSIEC).
They were, however, said to have been resisted.
But when asked to comment on the development, the chairmanship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the area, Mr Ayodele Oluwafemi, said he was unaware of the incident.
According to him, the exercise was peaceful at his polling unit and within the town.
Also reacting, the Acting Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Sunday Abutu, said he was yet to be fully briefed on the incident.
He promised to react formally as soon as he got details of the alleged attack from the Divisional Police Officer in Ikere Ekiti.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chairman in the state, Chief Gboyega Oguntuase, however, insisted that the local government poll was regrettable, saying the violence was common in most places.
But the Chairman of APC, Chief Paul Omotoso, while speaking at his Imesi Ekiti country home, absolved his party of any compilicity, insisting that the election was generally peaceful although it witnessed low turnout.
He explained that the low turnout was not a sign of apathy, but a reflection of the people’s attitude of not taking local council election seriously.
Meanwhile, collation of results had commenced at the time of filing this report.
To ensure a peaceful exercise meant to produce 16 chairmen and 177 councillors, the police commissioner in the state, Mr Asuquo Amba, had deployed officers to the 2,195 polling units across the state.