“Though voters turnout at all the 47 polling units visited throughout the eight zones of Ward 5 and all other 11 wards of Ibadan North Local government was a bit on the low side compared to turnout at the governorship elections,quite a sizable number of voters showed up to exercise their civic responsibility.
What stood out about the ongoing voting was the peaceful nature of the exercise
Voters were peaceably casting their votes without harassment of any kind”
These were the comments uttered by the Commissioner for Women Affairs & Social Inclusion; Hon ( Mrs) Toyin Balogun during the interview by our correspondent as she visited numerous polling units in all the zones of her local government after casting her vote at the Ikolaba Grammer School Polling Unit around 10.23am
After casting her vote for the party’s candidates,she drove round polling units in all the 8 zones of the Ward 5,and other wards of Ibadan North local government dropping refreshments for party agents along her route
At the Polling Unit 027; Ile Baale at Ashi zone,she interacted with the Chief Imam of that zone Shehu Ibrahim Adekunle and a notable influencer in the zone ,the 94 year old Alh Lateef Ayinde,popularly called Baba Elero who expressed some concerns unrelated to the voting exercise
The commissioner promised to look into concerns expressed ,appreciating the Chief Imam and another notable community leader & influencer Baba Elero for sitting down at the Polling unit from around 8am in the morning and overseeing events to make sure all went well
In all polling units at the Post office Agodi gate,Iso part,Bibilari,Akingbola,Inukoko etc polling units visited,voters were observed peaceably exercising their civic rights
At all the other 10 wards polling units visited, although the OYSIEC officers arrived at about 3 polling units a little after 11am,voting was also observed to be ongoing under a rancour free atmosphere
Same peaceful atmosphere subsisted at PUs 35 & 15 respectively both of the Agbowo zone of Ward 12 Ibadan North LG, voters trooped out in their hundreds and voting proceeded peacefully under the watchful supervision of the sitting House of Assembly member representing Constituency 2 of the Ibadan North LG ; Hon Babajide Gabriel and Hon Mighty who both ensured the voting exercise was carried out in an orderly manner
At all 47 the polling units visited by the Honorable Commissioner,voting was found to be ongoing under a violence and rancour free atmosphere
Kudos to the Oyo State Government,OYSIEC and security agencies for conducting a hitch free voting exercise
