Lagos Island: Party agents concerned over low voter turnout

The agents, who belonged to the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), said that the low turnout was generally due to the late arrival of voting materials and INEC officials at many polling centres.

An APC agent, Mr Ajanaku Saliu, condemned the low turnout of voters, saying: “we have now asked our members to go from house-to-house, to encourage voters to come out and vote’’.

“INEC should ensure that their officials and voting materials are deployed on time during the gubernatorial and State Assembly elections, to avoid delays.

“Voters also found it extremely difficult to locate their places of voting, which should also be addressed,’’ he said.

Mr Sanni Jide, a PDP supervisor, also expressed concerned over the low turnout of voters, but noted that “the people will certainly pour out later’’.

Heavy presence of security personnel around Oyebanji Junction, along Adeniji Adele and the Sura Shopping Complex areas in Lagos Island was observed.

Security personnel also checked the few vehicles on the roads and detained some individuals suspected to be loitering around the area.

Card readers worked perfectly without hitches in virtually all the polling units visited on the Island.

Mrs Nike Ajisola, an Assistant Electoral Officer with INEC, said that a total of 389 card readers were deployed on Lagos Island in 19 wards with 270 polling units.