By Stephen Adeleye
Mopamuro (Kogi), – The rescheduled House of Assembly election in Mopamuro Local Government Area of Kogi has witnessed a very low turnout of voters.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Saturday postponed the state House of Assembly election across Mopamuro Local Government Area of Kogi.
The Electoral Officer, Mopamuro LGA, Mr Opanachi Ojodale, said that the election was postponed to Sunday, March 10, due to the wrong ballot papers that were taken to the area.
A NAN Correspondent who monitored the exercise reported that there was a very low turnout of voters across the polling units visited.
NAN reports that the INEC officials arrived various polling units ahead of the scheduled time (8:00 a.m.) across the 10 wards in the local government area.
The card readers at the various polling units visited also functioned effectively.
NAN reports that the low turnout recorded in the re-scheduled election might not be unconnected with the boycott of PDP members from the election.
The PDP said in a letter to INEC on their boycott: “…Since we believe that our victory at the polls is not worth the blood of any citizen of our local government area, after due consideration with our party hierarchy, we have decided to boycott the election’’.
Also, a PDP chieftain in the state and former Deputy Governor, Yomi Awoniyi, confirmed the withdrawal of the PDP from the re-scheduled elections.
Mr Makinde Oyebode, an APC chieftain, told NAN that the election had been peaceful, free and fair, saying the turnout was `generally okay’.
Responding to the boycott by the PDP, Makinde said that there were 16 political parties participating in the election, saying the boycott by the PDP would not affect the outcome of the election.
He, however, urged the APC supporters to remain calm and be peaceful, while awaiting the announcement of the election results.
Another APC member, Mr Gbenga Olanrewaju, commended INEC and the security agencies for the peaceful conduct of the election.
A voter, Omolayo Olode, told NAN that the election was peaceful but there was a low turnout of voters.
NAN reports that accreditation and voting had stopped in most of the polling units visited by NAN as at noon, as there was no single voter on the queue in those units.
The counting of votes will commence by 2:00 p.m., according to INEC regulations.
