By Ifeanyi Olannye
Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta has lauded the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the security agencies for ensuring a smooth and peaceful electioneering process in the state.
Okowa made the remarks while speaking with newsmen after casting his votes on Saturday during the Governorship and House of Assembly elections at Eghoma Primary School, Ward 2, Unit 17, Owa-Alero, Ika North East Local Government Area.
The governor, who voted at about 10 a.m. acknowledged that the Bimodal Voters Accreditation System (BVAS) worked well and the process was smooth.
“I just cast my vote and everything is working smoothly and the capture was quickly done, the process here is seamless and everything working perfectly.
“To go beyond this, I have been talking to the security agencies, there are restrictions in terms of security but I think things are being sorted out.
“We also got information that certain persons are trying to impersonate the military and the police and I think the security agencies are on top of it.
“But beyond that, the reports we are getting everywhere appear to be peaceful and we want to thank the security agencies for the security architecture they put in place.
On the turn out, Okowa said that it was still early to rate the outcome of voters as poor.
‘’I believe that a lot of people will still come out to vote,” he said.
Speaking on the Feb. 25 Presidential and National Assembly elections, the governor said the INEC’s failure to keep to their promise of transmitting the elections’ results from the polling units to the servers was the major challenge.
“That election is a subject for the courts to decide, but I hope that INEC will be a bit credible in this current elections process so that Nigerians may have confidence in this.
“We are promised again that the BVAS would transmit the elections results from the polling units in this current elections.
’’I hope they do not come back to tell us any more reasons why results are not to be transmitted from the polling units,’’ Okowa said.
He urged Nigerians not to sit-at-home for the reasons that their votes would not count and feel disenfranchised.
“But the best reaction is to come out and vote once again and try to defend that vote,” Okowa said.
(NAN)
