Elections into the 17 local government areas of Plateau State on Saturday were marred by massive voter apathy as most electorates shunned voting centres in many parts of the state.
This is even as Governor Sumo Bako Lalong described the elections as being peaceful in all the seventeen local government areas of the State.
Before the Saturday election, the main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party had failed in its attempt to stop the Plateau State Independent Electoral Commission (PLASIEC) from conducting the election following its exclusion by the Commission.
In a midnight judgement on Friday, Justice Mudashiru Oniyangi led three other justices of the Court of Appeal to dismiss the plea of PDP to stop the Saturday election.
Tribune Online findings revealed that the election was peaceful in virtually all the 17 local government areas of the state, but witnessed extremely low turnout due to voter apathy as many shunned polling units and used the period to relax at home.
In some of the polling units visited within the state capital, only security men and ad-hoc staff of Plateau State Independent Electoral Commission were seen in the centres.
By 3pm, some polling units recorded a turnout of just 10 to 20 voters out of the expected over 1,000 and above.
It was gathered that the reason for the low turnout could be as a result of the exclusion of the Peoples Democratic Party by PLASIEC from the election while others perceived it as a walkover for the All Progressives Congress being the only formidable party in the election.
However, Plateau State Governor Simon Bako Lalong has praised the electorate for their peaceful conduct and large turnout to elect their chairmen and councillors throughout the 17 local government areas of the state.
The Governor who voted alongside his wife, Regina Lalong and other close family members at about 10:30am, said he was impressed with the turnout and enthusiasm in his ward and the encouraging reports from various parts of the state which equally indicated a peaceful exercise and the readiness of voters to choose their leaders.
He said going by the fact that PLASIEC had assured all political parties, candidates and the entire electorate of their readiness for the exercise having planned over a long period of time and engaged all stakeholders, there is no cause for alarm.
Asked if he was apprehensive of the elections not holding due to the court case instituted by the PDP at the Court of Appeal Jos seeking an injunction to stop the elections, which went deep into the night before the scheduled date, the governor said:
“We had no fear because we know the courts will do justice according to our laws. Even if they had ruled that the elections will not hold, we would have had nothing to do but obey the ruling. The APC as a party has high regard for the courts and believes that it is a very important part of the democratic culture which we must build.
“You remember the Zamfara case where we even won the elections but the courts voided it and in Rivers where we were stopped from participating. Now that in this case, the court ruled in our favour, we are going ahead with the elections peacefully.”
YOU SHOULD NOT MISS THESE HEADLINES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
Lagos Is Second Least Liveable City In The World For 2021
Lagos is the second least liveable city in the world for the year 2021. This is according to the most recent annual ranking put together by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU)…
CLAIM 1: A Twitter user claims UNICEF said any efforts to block children from accessing pornography might infringe their human rights.
VERDICT: MISLEADING!
and then