Ondo Governorship Election: Voting Concludes as Sorting and Counting Begin

With voting officially concluded in the Ondo Governorship election, attention has now shifted to the sorting and counting of ballots across the state. Electoral officials, political party agents, and observers are closely monitoring the process to ensure transparency and accuracy. Results are expected to start trickling in soon.

The Ondo governorship election, which took place across the oil-producing state, has concluded just hours after it commenced.

In certain areas of the state, the exercise concluded around 2:30 p.m., and the sorting and counting of votes were already underway.

Voters who arrive at the polling stations before closing time but haven’t yet cast their ballots will still be allowed to vote.

The election commenced at approximately 8 a.m. across the 3,933 polling stations in the South-West state. In certain areas, materials for the exercise arrived as early as 6 a.m., with officials from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) intensifying their preparations for the poll.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has approved 18 candidates for the upcoming election, as residents of Ondo decide on their governor for the next four years. Analysts suggest that the contest is primarily between two leading figures: incumbent Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa from the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Ajayi Agboola representing the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

Interestingly, both men held the position of deputy governor in the administration led by the late Governor Rotimi Akeredolu, who passed away toward the end of last year. Following his death, Aiyedatiwa was sworn into office to assume leadership responsibilities in what is known as the Sunshine State.

After casting their votes in the election, the leading contenders expressed different opinions about the outcome.

According to Aiyedatiwa, the election proceeded peacefully and experienced an encouraging turnout.

“The governor stated, ‘After what we have accomplished over the past 10 months, as I’ve mentioned before, the public and voters are aware of their choice.’”

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I’m confident that I have a strong chance of winning this election due to the efforts I’ve made over the past ten months since becoming governor. During this time, we’ve visited all 18 local governments and numerous communities throughout the state.

“In my community, it is peaceful and the turnout is extremely encouraging. I hope that other locations across the state are experiencing a similar situation. It’s calm here,” he said.

However, the former deputy governor claimed that the sluggish progress of the election process was a tactic to manipulate the outcome.

However, Agboola criticized the process. The PDP candidate claimed that the sluggish pace of the exercise was an attempt by INEC to manipulate the governorship election results.

“The system isn’t flawless, and there are issues,” the PDP candidate remarked following his vote. “It took over 10 minutes to capture my information as the PDP candidate at this location. We’re all present here; you can witness the situation for yourself. Numerous complaints have been voiced throughout.”

If INEC is unable to effectively organize an election in just one state, it indicates that we are heading towards disorder.

I believe it’s intentional by INEC and the REC. We’ve repeatedly expressed our lack of trust in Barr. Oluwatoyin Babalola (REC), as we don’t think she can be impartial.

The system has been compromised, and I’ve received numerous calls today. There are complaints about vote buying, and the BVAS is malfunctioning. This is an embarrassing situation that reflects poorly on our electoral process. I believe Nigerians should urge Prof Mahmood Yakubu, the chairman of the electoral commission, to step down if he cannot fulfill his duties effectively. Resigning would be a dignified course of action given these circumstances which have completely undermined the election’s integrity.