senator-elect commend INEC

for improvement, decry low turnout

Kogi West senator-elect, Mr Sunday Karimi, and the state’s Commissioner for Information and Communication, Mr Kingsley Fanwo, on Saturday commended INEC’s conduct of the House of Assembly elections in the state.

Governorship election in Kogi is offcycle and would not hold until November.

The duo gave the commendations in separate interviews with newsmen after casting their ballots at Egbe, Yagba West and Takete in Mopamuro Local Government Areas of Kogi, respectively.

Karimi said the election was peaceful but noted voter apathy as many eligible voters did not turn up at the polling units.

He said the low turnout might not be unconnected with the fact that governorship election did not hold in Kogi on Saturday.

He added that the poor turnout on Saturday could also have resulted from the shock of the victory of the All Progressives Congress (APC) at the Feb. 25 presidential and National Assembly elections.

“There was low turnout of voters compared to the large turnout at the presidential and National Assembly elections on Feb. 25.

“There was an improvement in logistics by INEC, however. There was early arrival of election officers at the polling units contrary to what obtained on Feb. 25.

“Also, the Bimodal Voters Accreditation System (BVAS) machines worked perfectly on Saturday, except in few cases where it rejected fingerprints,’’ Karimi said.

On his part, Fanwo commended

INEC for organising credible, free and fair elections.

“Materials were brought on time and the BVAS worked perfectly. The electoral officers were very professional as they provided a level playing ground for everybody to exercise their franchise.

“We also want to commend the security operatives; they were very professional in their conduct, and the voters conducted themselves very well.

“I commend INEC for organising this very credible, free and fair elections,’’ Fanwo said. (NAN)