26th February, 2023
The residents of Ikola in the Agbado Oke-Odo Local Council Development Area under the Alimosho Local Government Area of Lagos State on Saturday trooped out in their numbers to cast votes in the presidential and the National Assembly polls.
P.M.NEWS visited some polling units to ask the determined voters in mostly long queues their experiences at the polling booths and their verdicts on the entire process.
Following are their submissions:
Niyi Olaitan Julius: “The process has been peaceful. I think the aim of government to checkmate vote buying has been achieved because since I have been here, I have not seen any such attempt. People are here to vote according to their conscience and things have been going on smoothly. There has not been any hitch. I want to say whoever emerges as winner of the election is the person God has ordained to win because we are not under any influence here. The exercise is going on well.
Adeniyi Tijani: I have just voted. I didn’t spend more than thirty minutes getting accreditation and voting. The process is fair, free and with no disturbance. Some have voted and gone back home while some are still staying around, enjoying themselves. And there is no financial influence, so whoever emerges winner in this election should be acceptable to other parties and there should be a handshake across. The party agents have been conducting themselves very well and the voting process is well coordinated.
Michael Alonge: “The turnout is high, the crowd is much. The only challenge is that the process is low. People are in queue for too long. If it is possible to use more than one BVAS Machine, the process could be faster.
Ayilara Raphael: “I have voted. The process didn’t take much time for me to vote. Though the turnout is high, but the INEC officers have been guiding us on the process very well. So, that makes it faster. We were issued numbers to make it orderly. And there has not been any incident of violence. Till this moment, there has not been any act of misconduct.
Emmanuel Sunday Sogunro, PDP candidate for Alimosho Constituency 01, LAHA: “Of course, I have voted at my polling Unit 153 Ward 11, Alimosho Local Government. The election process is fair because the BVAS is just a newly introduced system. So, most people are not used to the system. With all the trends of events happening across the country, many believed that the elections would not hold today and that there is a possibility of shifting the date of the poll. It’s now holding and as far as my own unit here is concerned, the process is fair, there is orderliness, there is peace, there is no violence. People are patiently waiting to cast their votes. So, it’s a good thing happening to our democracy.
Taofeeq Oyeniyi: “I am yet to vote. I am still waiting for my turn. The attendance number that was given to me is 287. The process has been smooth and orderly. The voting system is not taking much time. We just hope it will continue like this so that everybody will be able to vote because the turnout is high and very impressive. We hope the system will not disappoint the potential voters. I appeal to others who are also yet to vote to exercise patience. Even nature is kind to us- the weather is not harsh compared to the experiences of days before. That is to tell you that even nature is telling us to be patient and wait to exercise our civic responsibility.
Titilayo Olasina: “I have voted. This is the ink on my finger. My unit is 054. People came out so massively. A lack of understanding here is causing a delay in the process. The INEC officials here too are not up and doing. The police officers posted here are so unconcerned. That is what has caused the rowdiness you see here. If the people show orderliness, the process would be faster than this. But I believe that my candidate will win at the end of the day because there has not been any form of malpractice.
Pastor Anthony: “I have not voted, I am still waiting. I came here around 7 am. Though the INEC officials did not arrive in time, they started late, but we thank God now that everything is going the way God wants it. We give God the glory. We thank God that people are not fighting, no quarrel. Things are going on smoothly.