APC, PDP agents. observer give different reasons for low voter turnout

Politicians and observers in Surulere, Lagos State, have disagreed on the reasons for low turnout of voters in the ongoing by-election in Surulere Federal Constituency I in the state.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Saturday’s by-election in Surulere Federal Constituency I was marred by poor turnout across various units and wards in the constituency.

For instance, at Polling Unit (PU) 017 Ward 8, Alhaji Masha Road, Adeniran Ogunsanya, as at 2 p.m., only 198 voters came to vote, out of the 1,154 registered in the area.

Also, at PU 037 in same area and at same time, only 41 voters of the 172 registered voters came to vote.

Also at PU 014, Ward 08 at Elizabeth Fowler Memorial School, Surulere, Lagos, Surulere Constituency I, where Femi Gbajabiamila, the Chief of Staff to President Bola Tinubu, cast his vote, observation showed that there was voter apathy.

The record showed that less than 10 per cent of registered voters came to vote, as only 63 were accredited and voted, out of 669 registered at the end of the election.

Similarly, at PU 002, located at State Junior Grammar School (Special), Itolo St., Eric Moore in Surulere, where former Governor Babatunde Fashola was expected to vote, out of 750 registered voters, only 45 came to exercise their franchise.

Speaking on the low turnout, Salimon Arisekola, the PDP agent at PU 037 in Ward 8, said: “The election is very peaceful, but we have a very low turnout.

“I think what is responsible for this is the circumstances in the country now; where people are hungry and angry.”

Mr Arisekola said that stakeholders might need to engage with the people in future elections not to shun electoral process because of hardship, adding, “we must get it right”.

Also speaking, Ashimiyu Adeyemi, the APC agent in same unit, added that the low turnout might be unconnected with the fact that most people were disenchanted and not happy with the situation.

In her reaction, Islamiat Badru, a domestic observer with the National Council for Women Society, told NAN at Polling Unit 017, Alhaji Masha Road, that the election was credible but marred by low turnout.

“This is a credible election, though the turnout is low. People have come here to vote and return to their homes. No stress and violence,” Ms Badru said.

On reasons for the low turnout, Ms Badru, who noted that most people seemed not to understand what by-election was all about, added that it might be due to the economic hardship in the country.

Ibrahim Mukaila, the PDP agent for PU 017, who described the poll as violence-free, said it was sad that people did did not come out to vote.

“This is as a result of the situation in the country where people have lost hope in their representatives.

“It is sad that many people are still ignorant of what they want. The country is in dire need of people that will rescue it,” he said.

Reacting, Tunde Bafunsho, an INEC accredited election observer from the Organisation of Justice for Equity Sustainance, told NAN in Ward 8 that the election was properly organised by the electoral body.

“We have covered some polling units from the six Registration Areas in the Surulere Federal Constituency I and what we observed was that there is a low turnout.

“The low turnout can be attributed to people’s attitude to electoral process based on the financial, economic and high level of insecurity in Nigeria.

“People are still committed to the sustainance of credible electoral process in Nigeria, but for the fear of the unknown many people still hide in their houses.

“However, it is after the final collation of results that we will know the percentage of the turnout but I believe if might not be above 30 per cent,” Mr Bafunsho said.

Speaking, Bilikis Aremu, the APC chairperson, Ward G2, Adeniran Ogunsanya in Surulere Constituency I, who described the exercise as cool and calm without any hitch, said that the turnout was not impressive compared to general elections.

Ms Aremu, who spoke to NAN, attributed the low turnout to lack of strict restriction of movement of people in the constituency.

“The low turnout has nothing to do with economic situation in the country, it is because there is movement of people.

“If the government shuts down everywhere here, people will come out,” she said.

According to her, people around polling units 017 and 037 where she came to monitor, tried a little bit in turnout, unlike elite areas where it was poor.

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Ms Aremu, however, expressed high hope that APC would win the election in all the 38 polling units.

INEC had said that 140,377 voters registered in Surulere Federal Constituency I, only 121,111 of them collected their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) to vote.

(NAN)