ADO EKITI
Ekiti State Governor, Biodun Oyebanji, on Saturday maintained an early lead in the state’s governorship election in the state, securing thousands of votes ahead of his major contenders.
Results uploaded on the Independent National Electoral Commission’s Result Viewing Portal showed Oyebanji, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, dominating polling units across the state.
Although the exercise was largely peaceful, it was characterised by allegations of vote-buying, complaints over the slow performance of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, failed accreditation of several elderly voters and isolated incidents involving security personnel and officials of anti-graft agencies.
Early results from Irepodun/Ifelodun Local Government Area showed Oyebanji leading comfortably.
In Irepodun/Ifelodun LGA, where results from 41 of the 174 polling units monitored had been uploaded, the APC candidate polled 2,114 votes, while the Peoples Democratic Party candidate, Oluwole Oluyede, scored 65 votes, and the African Democratic Congress candidate, Oluwadare Bejide, secured 53 votes in Are Ward.
Oyebanji also polled 2,200 votes in Igede II Ward against ADC’s 46 votes and PDP’s 419 votes.
In Igede III Ward, the governor secured 961 votes, leaving ADC with 31 votes and PDP with 197 votes.
The APC candidate also dominated Afao Ward with 1,569 votes, while the PDP and ADC recorded 20 and 71 votes respectively.
Similarly, in Iropora/Esure/Eyio Ward, Oyebanji polled 1,129 votes, while ADC managed 16 votes and PDP scored 110.
The ruling party also won 31 of the 91 polling units monitored in Ilejemeje Local Government Area, while similar dominance was recorded in Moba Local Government Area with victory in 36 polling units.
In Ido/Osi Local Government Area, uploaded results from all polling units in Ilogbo Ward showed an overwhelming victory for the APC.
The ruling party swept virtually every polling unit by landslide margins, leaving only isolated votes for the ADC and PDP.
At Temidire Better Life Polling Unit, APC polled 76 votes against ADC’s one vote. At Ogunire/Idofin Abasa, the APC secured 98 votes, while the ADC recorded one vote.
Other polling units followed the same pattern, with APC recording 87 votes at Ile Olofin, 90 votes at Imuta I, II and III, 122 votes at St. Mary’s Catholic School, Okere/Esimo/Osolo, and 160 votes at Eti Omi Area, St. John’s Anglican School, the highest tally recorded in the ward.
Across the 16 polling units in Ilogbo Ward, the APC amassed 1,634 votes, while the ADC managed 12 votes and the PDP secured only two votes.
The trend continued in Ifaki Ward I and Igbole/Ifisin/Aaye Ward, where the APC maintained significant leads across virtually all polling units uploaded on the portal.
In Ado Local Government Area, the governor also won the polling units monitored at Ereguru and Adegbite areas with comfortable margins over the opposition.
The same pattern emerged in Efon Local Government Area, where the APC dominated polling units in Efon Ward IV.
Meanwhile, despite the impressive showing by the ruling party, allegations of vote-buying dominated discussions at several polling units.
Vote-buying at polling units
The candidate of the African Democratic Congress, Dare Bejide, while speaking with newsmen, alleged that some voters received cash at remote locations close to polling units while others were paid electronically.
Results are still pouring in as at the time of filing this report.
