From Emmanuel Adeyemi, Lokoja
The Saturday Assembly election in Okura II constituency in Dekina local government area of Kogi State was adjudged one of the worse elections in terms of voter turnout since the creation of the state, as voters stayed away from the polls for fear of violence and attacks from political thugs.
The by-election was conducted to fill the vacancy created by the death of a former Deputy Speaker of the House of Assembly, Enema Paul, who died on December 14, 2024.
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Owing to voter aparthy, the total votes cast in the election was about 60,000 in a local government reputed to be the largest in the country and a constituency that is one of the most populated in the state.
The low turnout, it was gathered, was as a result of the biting economic hardship, frustration and disenchantment with the government of the day, which made many business owners to open their shops while the farmers went to their farms.
The state Resident Electoral Commissioner, Dr. Oliver Agundu, who was visibly angry over the low turnout blamed politicians who he said did not sensitise nor mobilise the voters for the election.
In his words: “Despite the early resumption of INEC officials for the exercise, some people of the area preferred going about their personal concerns than participating in the poll.
“To be frank, the turnout for this by-election was so low and below expectations.
“The people seem to be more mindful of their activities than taking the election seriously to elect their leaders. We have situations where political thugs waylaid INEC officials and prevented them from reaching their polling units on time for the conduct of the election.
“This is so bad for us as a nation. We should know that election is a multi-stakeholders exercise as INEC alone can’t conduct it, especially when the people compromise.
“Politicians must learn how to keep to their words and be committed to the promises they make as regards elections” he added.
The opposition, however, accused the ruling party of compromising the election through heavy inducements and using thugs and security personnel to scare away voters in areas they felt they could lose.
Speaking with our correspondent, the state chapter chairman of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Kingsley Ogah, alleged that the government came in full force to the election deploying everything at their disposal to ensure they won the election .
He stressed that there was no way his party could match them as the party was still getting its act together.
He, however, said his party was taking the results to its legal department to do a comprehensive study of the outcome of the election so as to enable them determine whether they will challenge the results at the law court or not.
On it’s part, the ruling party said there was no way the APC would not have got a landslide victory in the election, given the popularity of the party and its wide reach in all the nooks and crannies of the state.
Speaking on behalf of the party, the commissioner for information, Kingsley Fanwo, attributed the ‘easy win’ to the numerous achievements of the state governor who he said has put smiles on the faces of the citizens.
Fanwo said the election went smoothly without any harassment whatsoever, saying the allegation of inducement was spurious, as the electorate willingly and expressly elected the candidate of their choice.
Six political parties fielded candidates for the Saturday by-election.
But in the end, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), through its returning officer, Prof. Emmanuel Onoja Eneche, declared Musa Hassan Yakubu of the APC as the winner with 55,073 votes.
He was followed by Godwin Meliga of PDP, with 1,038 and Egene Joseph Ugbede of APM with 445 votes, while Amos Ahaiba of ADC got 141 votes.
He also announced Rilwan Mudi of SDP as scoring 85 votes while, Yakubu Ugbede of AA party got 16 votes.
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