The Surulere Local Government Area Chairman, Bamidele Yusuf, has condemned the low turnout of elites at polling units during elections.
He made the allegation while casting his vote on Saturday, as Lagos residents pick chairmen and councillors for the 20 Local Government Areas (LGAs) of the coastal state.
According to the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC), Chairman, Justice Bola Okikiolu-Ighile, who spoke with Channels Television, 15 political parties have been confirmed for the chairmanship, vice chairmanship, and councillorship positions in the 20 LGAs and the 37 LCDAs in the state.
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At the PU 17 unit, scores of voters, mostly women, were seen seated under a canopy as they took turns to cast their ballots.
However, low turnout was recorded at PU 34 in the Alhaji Marshal Small London area of Surulere. The PU has 172 registered voters, but only a handful of voters were seen at the PU.
While lamenting, Yusuf, who is also the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in this year’s ongoing LG election, said the elites needed enlightenment, as their turnout during elections is usually low.
“The electoral officers came early and people have cast their votes as early as 8 in the morning. It is peaceful, and we normally have a large turnout of voters because those who have left normally come around to vote. The logistics are perfect, and materials were distributed early.
“Although we have a large turnout in some areas, there are also places where voters did not turn out as expected, especially where we have the elites. This is not supposed to be so because we are supposed to learn from the elites. But what we see here is that the elites sit at home during elections. The media needs to enlighten the elites so that they can come out and vote in the coming elections.
“When you get to Adeniran Ogunsanya, the number of people that come out to cast their votes is too small,” he said.
Our correspondent on the ground said only 60 persons out of 669 registered voters had exercised their franchise three hours into voting, in PU 014 at Elizabeth Fowler Memorial High School in the Adeniran Ogunsanya area in the Surulere LGA of Lagos.
The voting exercise is expected to end by 3 pm.
Source: Channels TV
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