Ekiti Decides: Governorship Election to Hold Tomorrow, June 21st

Kayode Fayemi, Opeyemi Bamidele & Ayodele Fayose

Ekiti State’s governorship election is set to take place tomorrow, June 21st.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is assuring voters that everything has been put in place to ensure a peaceful, successful election, Channels TV reports.

Security measures

INEC has expressed  its commitment to ensuring proper coordination of security operations, and conducting a fraud-free election.

In line with this objective, Inspector General of police, Mohammed Abubakar has reportedly deployed an assistant-inspector general of police, Bala M Nassarawa, and four other commissioners to supervise security arrangements.

The IG has also placed an order banning movements to and from Ekiti. Implementation of the ban started yesterday, June 19th from 6pm, and will continue until the election ends.

On Saturday, the day of the election, movements will be restricted within the state between 6am to 8pm. However, personnel with important duties such as INEC officials, on-duty security men, ambulance service providers, accredited election monitors/observers and journalists, are exempt from the restriction. 

In addition, the states of Osun, Ondo, Kogi, and Kwara which are near Ekiti, will have increased police presence with all entry and exit points in and out of Ekiti guarded by police. 

Notes for voters

In preparation for the election, Chief Press Secretary to the INEC Chairman, Kayode Idowu, advised voters to be at the same polling unit where they registered at 8 a.m for accreditation. He also stated that by 12.30 a.m. they should be back on the queue, ready to perform the actual voting.

Idowu also expressed that measures have been put in place to prevent any form of election malpractice. One of such measures is advanced security features of the voters cards, which prevents them from being cloned.

INEC is reportedly aiming to announce elections within 48 hours after voting is concluded.

Candidates

The leading candidates vying for the governorship position as stated by PM News, are: Incumbent governor of the state, Kayode Fayemi of the All Progressives Congress (APC), former governor of the state,Ayo Fayose of the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP); and Opeyemi Bamidele, candidate of the Labour Party.