Voters out in large number as Ekiti elects Fayemi’s successor

About 16 political parties are fielding candidates as Ekiti State goes to the poll today to elect a new helmsman to replace Governor Kayode Fayemi.

Reports from Ado Ekiti and other parts of the state say people are already trooping out to the various 2,445 polling stations across the 16 local governments.

The major contenders are Biodun Oyebanji of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Bisi Kolawole of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and a former governor of the state, Segun Oni of the Social Democratic Party (SDP).

Movement has been restricted by the police from midnight to 6pm on Saturday with 17,000 police personnel deployed for the exercise.

About 988,923 people were expected to vote during this election, according to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The Commission also said that it will begin the electronic transmission of results with the Ekiti governorship election. This will be the first election the commission is conducting since President Muhammadu Buhari signed the new electoral bill into law.

The Act empowers the commission to transmit election results in a way it determines.

Section 50 of the Act reads: “Subject to section 63 of this Act, voting at an election and transmission of results under this Act shall be in accordance with the procedure determined by the Commission.”

Asked if the commission would commence the much-awaited electronic transmission of result with the election, Mr Rotimi Oyekanmi, the Chief Press Secretary to the INEC, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, said, “Yes, the Ekiti governorship election results will be transmitted electronically.

“After the election and completion of the result management procedure at the polling unit, the Presiding Officer would transmit a clear image of the Form EC8A for purposes of collation. This image goes to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV).

He however noted that there would still be manual transmission of results to complement the electronic option.

“The PO (Presiding Officer) will also deliver by hand, the hard copy of the Form EC8A and the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System to the Registration Area Collation Officer,” he added.