Large Turnout of Voters in Three Senatorial Districts

• Oke reports malfunctioning of card reader

James Sowole in Akure

There was a large turnout of voters in the three senatorial districts of the state as the electorate trooped out as early as 8.00am to get accredited and cast their votes.

The smart card readers deployed were working well in most places except in some cases where the thumbs of the eligible voters were dirty.

There was the presence of security officers in many of the places visited. The restriction of movement was enforced as only vehicles permitted by the Electoral Act were given passage at various checking points.

Voting materials got to most polling units as early as 7.00m.

In Ondo South, there were reports that the card readers in some communities were not functioning well.

It was gathered that the machines in some instances started counting from 200 or 300 to suggest that the number had voted instead of counting from 001.

This case was said to have occurred mainly at Constituency Two in Ilaje Local Government Area.

This matter was reported live by the candidate of the Alliance for Democracy (AD), Chief Olusola Oke on a private radio channel.

He said the card readers were preloaded to mean that some people had voted at Alagbon, Idi Ogba and some other places in the constituency.

Also, securitymen were on patrol in Ilaje area as Naval men moved from one point to the other to ensure orderliness.

Reacting to the issue of malfunctioning of the card reader, the Resident Electoral Commissioner for Ondo State, Mr Segun Agbaje, said it was a minor technical hitch.

He said the Electoral Officer in the area had called and he had sent some men to correct the error.

The REC said it was not a case of preloading of the machine but that the person that punched the machine made mistakes.

However, the security in some polling units was a bit relaxed particularly at Erusu Akoko, the hometown of the candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Dr Olu Agunloye, in Akoko North West Local Government.

Agunloye voted at Erusu/Ikaram Ward 10 Unit 8 at about 9.25am.

At this unit, one policewoman and one officer of the Nigeria Security and civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) were seen at the place.