At Irewole Local Government Area, House of Representatives member and APC stalwart, Mrs Ayo Omidiran, said the election was free and fair.
Clement Adeyi, Osogbo
Despite incessant warnings and ban on the use of mobile phones, cameras and recording devices at polling booths to curb the menace of vote buying and selling during election, perpetrators deployed a new strategy at different polling units in Irewole Local Government Area.
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An election observer who preferred anonymity said he noticed vote buying but could not pinpoint anybody collecting money or taking pictures of ballot papers. He said there was a technical way they were doing it.
According to him, when voters who may have sold their votes underground before they got to the polling unit wanted to cast their votes they flaunted or waved their ballot paper as a signal for the party agent to see and confirm that they voted for his candidate.
He added that the signal strategy was successful because the agents stood close to the polling booths to monitor voting. Also, the booths were too open for the agents to see how the voter was going about the voting exercise.
An APC chieftain and Commissioner for Finance, Bola Oyebamiji, who voted at Units 3,4,5, AUD Primary School, Ikire, however, ruled out cases of vote buying. He expressed satisfaction with the processes, enthusing that INEC had really improved in the conduct of election and asked them to keep it up.
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Oyebamiji, who commended the massive turnout of voters, said that the number of the voters in 2014 was much more than this year’s.
He assured that the APC would win the election and run a government of continuity.
At Irewole Local Government Area, House of Representatives member and APC stalwart, Mrs Ayo Omidiran, said the election was free and fair.
She said there was no vote buying and voter intimidation by security agents whom she said conducted themselves peacefully.
Omidiran also commended INEC’s performance, saying that they did well and were really prepared for the election.
At Ward 8, Unit 2, Old Nepa Office, Ikire, accreditation and voting were still going on as at 1:40 pm as hundreds of voters defied the scorching sun to queue for accreditation and voting.
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At Gbongan in Ayedaade Local Government Area, a senatorial aspirant and ADP member, Dotun Babayemi, expressed optimism that Moshood Adeoti, the ADP candidate, would win the election.
He assured that no matter how the election was manipulated, ADP would clinch victory.
“We are not deterred. The people are determined to vote for the right candidate because they no longer want to be an annex of any other state after this election.”