At least three million 517 eligible voters are expected to cast their votes in the Katsina State Local Government Elections holding across the 34 LGAs of the State, covering 361 political wards and 6,652 polling units.
Channels Television observed that voting commenced as early as 9:05 am in most of the polling units with heavy turnout of voters mostly women, youth and the elderly amidst tight security.
Governor Dikko Radda, His wife, Zulaihat and His Deputy, Faruk Jobe, alongside Former President, Muhammadu Buhari and Former Governors of Katsina State, Ibrahim Shema and Aminu Masari, including serving senators and ministers in the State also cast their votes in their respective polling units.
Speaking shortly after casting his vote at his Kofar Katika Polling Unit in Radda Ward of Charanchi Local Government Area, Governor Dikko Radda was impressed with the large turnout of voters, stating that this has really testified to him that democracy has brought to this maturity stage.
Governor Radda while assuring voters that their votes will be counted, believed that at the end of the exercise, the APC candidates will come out victorious in recognition of laudable projects, executed by the current state administration since inception in 2023.
“And with the high turnout of voters, this has encouraged me that democracy is a process and has brought to this maturity and the arrangement we have made so far has been very fantastic and we are giving people opportunity to cast their votes, ballot boxes and other election materials were dispatched to the Polling Units on time.
“I believe that at the end of the exercise, with the kind of projects executed since we came on board, we believe so much in APC and APC will come out victorious. People should expect their votes to be counted”, Radda noted.
Although the Katsina State Independent Electoral Commission (KTSIEC) has been assuring readiness to conduct peaceful, free, fair and credible elections, only five political parties are participating. They include Accord Party, Booth Party, AAC, ADC and APC.
Other parties, numbering up to 86 including the PDP, however, did not show interest for reasons only known to them.
On Thursday February 13th, 2025, KTSIEC declared the distribution of sensitive election materials open to all the designated centres across the 34 LGAs of the State covering 361 political wards and 6,652 polling units.
The materials, customized in nature, are different from the previous ones and peculiar to each of the LGAs.
The Chairman of the Commission, Alhaji Lawal Alhassan Faskari, while distributing the items at the premises of the Commission announced that, the exercise will start with the most far away LGAs.
He told the gathering that adequate arrangements were made by the commission and other security agencies to transport the items to their respective destinations intact and safely, stating that necessary arrangements were as well made for a hitch free conduct of the exercise.
A dedicated mobile telephone line has been made public for genuine complaints to the commission on election day, according to Faskari.
He appreciated the support and cooperation from all stakeholders, most especially the Security Agencies, and political parties, appealing for more.
He revealed that the Commission had recruited and trained over twenty thousand (20,000) Ad-hoc staff who will undertake the exercise in all the designated Polling Units across the State, as Non-Sensitive Election Materials were distributed since last week.
Earlier on Friday, the State Police Command announced restrictions on the movement of individuals and vehicles from 0600 hrs – 1600hrs across the 34 LGAs of the State to maintain law and order, as well as the security of the electorates to enable them to cast their votes without interference.
The Commissioner of Police in the State, CP Aliyu Abubakar Musa, urged residents and all stakeholders in the state to comply with the movement restrictions in the interest of promoting peaceful and transparent electoral exercise.
He said, adequate security arrangements have been made to enforce the restrictions and to ensure the safety of all voters and election officials.
He further called on eligible voters to come out and participate in the election process and exercise their civic responsibility in a peaceful and orderly manner.
Source: Channels TV
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