Ekiti LG creation: Low turnout, apathy mar referendum •PDP blames ‘insincerity of exercise’ for poor turnout

Ekiti LG creation: Low turnout, apathy mar referendum •PDP blames ‘insincerity of exercise’ for poor turnout



Low turnout of people and outright boycott by some communities in Ekiti State were the order of the day on Saturday as the Ekiti State Independent Electoral Commission (EKSIEC) went ahead with the conduct of a referendum as part of the processes for the creation of 18 additional Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) in the state.

There has been controversy over the plan by the government of Dr Kayode Fayemi to create the LCDAs as some communities in the state are at daggers-drawn over the location of headquarters of local governments while the state chapter of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had also gone to court to challenge the creation of the councils, contending that the action was unconstitutional and that the SIEC was illegal.

In Ado Ekiti, the state capital, there was palpable apathy to the exercise just as only a handful of people came out in Ikere, another major town in the state.

For instance, in Ado Ward 11, where at least people from 15 polling units were expected to vote, only 118 people came out.

The Supervisor, Mr. Akinluyi Alabi, told newsmen who witnessed the exercise at St Thomas Primary School, Irona, that it was peaceful.

At St Georges Primary School, Matthew Street, only 66 voted in the exercise.

Commenting on the exercise, the SIEC Chairman, Mrs Cecilia Adelusi, confirmed that there was no voting in Ilasa, Osi and Igbole communities as the people blocked the roads and prevented the exercise from holding.

Adelusi said her attempt to enter Osi in the current Ido/Osi Local Government Area and Igbole, also in the council area to monitor the exercise, was aborted by the people who did not allow her vehicle to enter the towns.

Apart from the areas mentioned by the SIEC boss, the exercise did not hold also in Afao, Are, Iworoko all in Irepodun/ Ifelodun Local Government Area just as the exercise did not hold in Ire (Oye Local Government), Agbado in Gboyin Local Government Area and Ijero, among others.

In Ijero, the traditional ruler, Oba Adebayo Adewole, in a public announcement, said the people were not pleased with the government’s action, saying his people demanded for Ijero North and South local governments.

The same scenario happened in Erinmope, where the people said they were opposed to the exercise due to the location of the council headquarters in Igogo-Ekiti.

However, the exercise recorded an appreciable turnout of people in Iyin and Igbemo both in Irepodun/ Ifelodun Local Government Area.

In Ikere-Ekiti, the Commissioner for Integration, who is also a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr Funminiyi Afuye, said the issue was beyond politics.

According to him, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), that is opposed to the referendum, needed not to support it.

Meanwhile, the PDP, in a statement by the State Publicity Secretary, Pastor Kola Oluwawole, in Ado-Ekiti on Saturday, blamed the poor turnout of people on the insincerity of the outgoing government.

He said that most of the supposed beneficial communities knew abnitio that the whole process of creating the LCDAs was shrouded in controversy as a result of the contentious constitutional validity of the exercise.

Apart from this, Oluwawole stressed that the people decided not to participate because they discovered that the creation of the LCDAs in the twilight of the administration of Governor Kayode Fayemi, who was roundly defeated in last month’s governorship election in the state was a vengeful mission to set one community against the other for not voting for him.

The PDP spokesman also said the attitude of the Ekiti people could be linked to the utterances of some notable members of the APC that Fayemi should use all power at his disposal to set political landmines for the incoming PDP government of Mr Ayo Fayose.

According to him some also distanced themselves from the whole exercise due to fear of molestation and possible attacks by thugs who were brought to Ekiti State by the leadership of the APC to boost security for the EKSIEC and attack members of any opposition party or community.