Motor parks in Ado-Ekiti on Friday became beehive of activity with eligible voters travelling out of the state Ekiti state capital to travel to their different homes to cast their votes in the July 14 governorship election in the state.
It was gathered it that the popular Ilesa Park, Old Garage Park, and Ikere park all located in Ado-Ekiti were filled with passengers, most of who are voters.
Investigations showed that few buses were available to convey voters and other passengers as most of the buses had been booked by Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
One of the commercial drivers, Mr. Omololu Gbenga who spoke to the media, a lot of people had been traveling to their homes to vote in the exercise as early as 8 a.m.
He explained that the voters were traveling because most of them registered in their towns.
“I have been travelling to Oye, Efon and Aramoko since morning and most of my passengers are those clamouring to visit their towns to vote.
“I pray this election is conducted free and fair because our people are suffering and we need to vote for the right leader,” he said.
Another commercial driver, Mr. Omolade Tayo, said most of the passengers were interested in traveling to their towns to vote and collect money from some of the politicians.
He said virtually all the motor parks in Ado-Ekiti had been busy but that transport fare had not increased.
Mr Ogundare Bisi, also a commercial driver, said he had more passengers traveling to their various towns to participate in the election either as observers or as an electorate.
A passenger, Mrs Owolabi Folasade, who also spoke with NAN, said she decided to travel to her hometown to cast her vote for the governorship candidate of her choice.
Other passengers said they decided to travel to their homes to participate in the exercise because they did not want to be disenfranchised.
The Nigeria Police Force on Friday said allegations by Governor Ayo Fayose that he was slapped and kicked by a Police officer were false.
The Police also said the governor was just being overdramatic.
The Police said it investigated the matter by inviting the Aide-de-camp (ADC) and the Chief Security Officer (CSO) to the Governor.
Both officers according to the Police said nothing of such happened despite the Governor’s claims that the police shot at him and fired teargas that blinded him.
This was disclosed by the Force Spokesman, Ag. DCP Jimoh Moshood on a television programme monitored by The Nation.
Moshood said: “It was overdramatized and everybody saw how it played out because how do you link up an injured arm with an injured leg and neck?
“The Executive Governor of the state was not manhandled. Nobody slapped him because we saw allegation that the Governor was slapped. What were the ADCs doing, what were the CSOs doing and other security agencies personnel that were with him doing at that point in time?
“Due to the allegation an, those two were invited to Command Headquarters to make statement because the Inspector General of Police after hearing of the accusations which is something that cannot be actualized directed that the matter be investigated and they were asked if they have deteriorated in their duty and why they allowed a governor to be slapped and pushed?
“They made statement that nothing like that happened.”
On why the crowd were dispersed, Moshood said: “The incident that occurred was the one that involved people sharing fuel and we are investigating that.
“Why must people be induced with fuel and money? It was the people that could not get the money and fuel that went in there to try disrupt the rally and we tried to disperse them.
“When they learnt that we were dispersing them with teargas, people left. Also, no individual has reported to police that anybody was killed or missing because of what happened while we were dispersing the crowd. So, to the best of our knowledge, nobody has reported in any Police station that he sustained injury.”
He also assured residents of a safe and secured environment during and after the election.
“The bottomline is that we are interested in providing secure environment for this election to hold and the people of Ekiti people are encouraged to continue to embrace peace.
“The deployment of 30,000 is no doubt to secure them. If you look at the history of election in this country, you would discover that Ekiti State is a flashpoint because some people’s utterances are inciting.”
Several voters were given money Friday by politicians to vote for particular candidates in Saturday’s election.
Those who spoke to our correspondents on condition of anonymity said they got N4, 000 each.
Our correspondents, who were at the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) office where newsmen were being accredited, noticed that people were steadily streaming in and out of the Old Governor’s office in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State capital.
Those seen going in and out of the premises were mostly youths as well as middle-aged men and women.
While some ran into the premises apparently to get there before the sharing ended, others walked briskly towards an inner building.
A woman was overheard raining curses on some people she claimed collected money twice.
She wondered why some would collect twice while others were yet to collect once.
She said: “A vehicle will kill all of those that collected twice!”
The parks of Fero Mobile F110 Phone that was distributed at the old Governor’s office, Oke Bareke, Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State
One of our correspondents approached her and said: “Take it easy madam. You’re a mother. You shouldn’t curse others that way.”
She said: “The cheating is too much. Some people have not collected, while some have collected twice. It’s not fair.”
When our correspondent sought to know who was sharing the money, she said: “I’m not a radio. Leave me, I am annoyed.” Then she walked away.
Several people were seen trying to gain access to the gated inner building within the premises.
Those coming out of the building told those outside that they must be sure of the wards they were registered to vote.
Someone was overheard saying that having a Permanent Voter Card (PVC) was required to receive the cash.
Some of the voters were seen grumbling that they could not locate their names on the list.
Those whose names were not in the list were asked to go to different locations where money for their wards was being shared.
A young man who was coming out of the premises was asked if he had collected his own money.
He was initially reluctant to respond. But when our correspondent spoke to him in Ekiti language, he opened up.
He said his name was not found in the ward list, and that he was directed to another ward.
Asked how much was being shared, he said: “Some get N2, 000; others get N4, 000” as he hurriedly left.
A woman was seen telling her friend that without her voter’s card, she would not be given the money.
A group of four women were seen talking animatedly. Three of them had succeeded in collecting their cash, but the fourth woman could not collect hers because she did not bring her PVC along.
The other women, while consoling her, said: “After all, you collected rice yesterday. At least you got something.”
More people soon gathered at the entrance, banging on the gate. They accused those sharing the money inside of planning to pocket what is left. Some shouted: “Ole, ole!”
A female security guard opened the gate soon after and everyone trooped into the compound, with pushing and shoving. The gate was shut again as more people gathered.
A middle-aged bearded man, apparently a party leader, warned those who had collected theirs and were leaving not to allow any “APC member” near the place.
Looking around as if to identify “APC members” outside the premises, he shouted: “Don’t allow any APC member near here. If any APC member comes near here, I will break his head.”
Empty packs of F1100 Power Torch Fero Mobile phones littered the scene and around the Old Governor’s Office.
It was not immediately clear if the phones were earlier shared to the voters.
Vote buying and inducement is a common theme in most elections, with major political parties culpable.
As it becomes increasingly difficult to alter election results or adopt other forms of rigging, vote buying and inducement has become the preferred option for garnering votes.
The Ekiti Governorship election is seen as a two-horse race between the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate Dr Kayode Fayemi and his People’s Democratic Party (PDP) counterpart Prof Kolapo Olusola-Eleka.
The Resident Electoral Commissioner of Ekiti State Prof. Abdul Ganiy Olayinka Raji has said that the usage of the latest official vehicle tracker has assisted the commission tremendously during the process of transporting all the sensitive materials for the Saturday election to all the 16 local governments in the state.
Raji disclosed this while speaking with journalists in his office noting that the materials were collected at the Central Bank in the presence of all the political parties before dispatched to its various destination accompanied by eight senior INEC officials.
According to him, the materials were monitored directly in his office through official vehicle tracker connected to a giant television screen which indicate the movement of the materials until all got to the respective 16 local government headquarters of the state.
The commissioner disclosed that Ekiti state has 913,334 voters out of which 646, 000 collected their PVC cards while about 250,000 are yet to collect their cards.
He explained that all the process used by the commission was transparent with the involvement of all the representatives of all the parties participating in the election.
“We have 35 political parties participating in this coming, gubernatorial election, though 40 political parties initially notified us of their participation, but at the last minutes only 35 parties are participating.
He explained that the commission did not face any challenges because the fear of how the sensitive materials will get to the final destination was addressed through improved technology that assisted the commission to monitor, track and even listen to all the communications going on in all the vehicles deplored.
He explained that Ekiti is calm and all hands are on deck to conduct credible, fair and free election in the state.
The mystery helicopter that landed at Ekiti Government House had just departed now.
The helicopter left the Government House helipad at 2.41 pm.
It was alleged that the chopper brought cash and other election “logistics” to assist the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) achieve victory at Saturday’s poll.
Afenifere chieftain, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, says anything short of credible conduct of the Ekiti governorship election on Saturday would not be acceptable.
The nonagenarian spoke in an interview with press men on Friday in Lagos.
Adebanjo appealed to stakeholders that the people’s will must be allowed to prevail in the election in order to strengthen democracy.
He said that voters should not be intimidated under whatever guise, and every vote must count.
“We demand nothing short of a free and fair election in Ekiti and we urge INEC and other stakeholders to ensure that.
“There should not be intimidation of voters, there should not be manipulation of votes.
“The process should be fair and transparent. The people must be allowed to choose,” the chieftain of the Yoruba socio-cultural group said.
He urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and other stakeholders to ensure free and fair election, as the focus of all champions of democracy was on Ekiti.
Adebanjo condemned what he called the manhandling of Gov. Ayodele Fayose by policemen in Ekiti on Wednesday.
He said the incident was an embarrassment to the nation and a threat to democracy.
The chieftain said that if a sitting could be so treated by security operatives, then there was little hope for respect of the rights of ordinary citizens.
He said that such action was not good for the credibility of the election.
The Resident Electoral Commissioner of Ekiti State Prof. Abdul Ganiy Olayinka Raji has said that all the sensitive materials for the Saturday election has been delivered to all the 16 local government areas in the state.
Raji disclosed this Thursday while speaking with journalist in his office noting that the materials were collected at the Central Bank in the presence of all the political parties before they were dispatched to various destination accompanied by eight senior INEC officials.
According to him, the materials were monitored directly in his office through official vehicle tracker connected to a giant television screen which indicates the movement of the materials until all got to the respective 16 local government headquarters of the state.
The commissioner disclosed that Ekiti state has 913,334 voters out of which 646, 000 collected their PV cards while about 250,000 are yet to collect their cards.
He explained that all the process used by the commission was transparent with the involvement of representatives of all the parties participating in the election.
“We have 35 political parties participating in this coming, gubernatorial election, though 40 political parties initially notified us of their participation, but at the last minutes only 35 parties are participating.
He explained that the commission did not face any challenges because the fear of how the sensitive materials will get to the final destination was addressed through improved technology that gave the commission to monitor, track and even listen to all the communication going on in all the vehicles deplored.
He explained that Ekiti is calm and all hands are on deck to conduct credible, fair and free election in the state.
Four days to the governorship election in Ekiti State, Ekiti State Police Command has nabbed two members of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) who were found in possession of already thumprinted papers in favour of PDP in the Saturday governorship election.
A statement by Director of Media and Publicity, Kayode Fayemi Campaign Organisation, Mr. Wole Olujobi, identified the two suspects as Ashiru Gbenga and Olaide Olayeye, who were promptly arrested, interrogated and detained.
They are now helping the police in their investigation.
The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mr. Caleb Ikechukwu, when contacted by our reporter promised to get back later.
As about 12 noon on Wednesday, intelligence report indicated that one Vien Foton vehicle marked KTU 477 DG Lagos was parked at Fayose Market along Ajilosun Street, Ado-Ekiti, the state capital.
Upon information to the police headquarters on the suspicious parking, a team of detectives was deployed to the scene to conduct a search on the vehicle where two leaflets of already thumprinted ballot papers were found in favour of PDP.
