According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), only a handful of voters were observed in voting booths during Saturday’s Jigawa State local government election.
Voter apathy was reported in most polling units during the election, according to NAN journalists who witnessed the exercise in several of the local areas.
Kiyawa, Jahun, Dutse, Babura, Suletankarkar, and Gumel LGAs were among the places visited.
In Babura, prospective voters were accredited and able to vote at polling unit 002, the registration area code of Gov. Muhammad Badaru, at around 8 a.m., despite low voter participation.
According to NAN, barely 300 of the 900 registered voters had cast their votes as of 11:23 a.m., and few electors were spotted in line for prospective accreditation and voting.
Bashir Musa, the Presiding Officer, stated that the state governor would be there to vote before the polls closed at 3 p.m.
The election also saw low voter turnout in most polling units visited in Kiyawa, Jahun, Suletankarkar, and Gumel, with children seen playing around some of the polling units.
Some people, on the other hand, were overjoyed to be able to participate in the election.
The poor voter turnout, according to Alhaji Muhammad Ibrahim, a voter in Babura, is due to the farming season.
Many voters rushed to their farms after casting their ballots, while others returned home, according to Ibrahim.
Garba Adamu, a member of another electorate, claimed that voters were uninterested in the election because neither political parties nor candidates would reward them for “vote buying.”
He did, however, express optimism that voter turnout will improve before the election’s conclusion.
In addition, several voters blamed voter indifference on opposition parties’ lack of involvement in the election.
A voter, Abdullahi Muhammad, argued for sound legislation that would allow INEC to conduct council elections throughout the country.
“In order to avoid manipulation by state governors, council elections should be organized and administered by INEC,” he stated.
The policy, according to Muhammad, will make council elections more trustworthy, transparent, and fair.
Abdulmutallab Shafi’u, who voted at the Babura Special Primary School voting unit, said the election saw a large voter turnout.
After casting their ballots, most individuals went home or to work, according to Shafi’u.
According to NAN, the exercise was fairly calm in all of the state’s 27 local government areas.
In the election, candidates from eighteen political parties ran for 27 chairmanships and 288 councillorships.
The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) had dispatched around 3,500 men to ensure that the drill went off without a hitch.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN
