The Ekiti State Deputy Governor and the Deputy Governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Chief (Mrs) Monisade Afuye, has commended voters for their sense of patriotism as they turned out en masse to exercise their civic duty in the Saturday governorship poll in the state.
Mrs Afuye also applauded the Independent National Electoral Commission and the security agencies for their impartiality, which led to the peaceful conduct of the Ekiti governorship election across the state.
Afuye spoke after casting her vote at her Atiba/Aafin Ward 1, polling unit 003, in Ikere Ekiti, on Saturday, during the June 20 governorship election held to elect a governor who will steer the affairs of the state until 2030.
Expressing her feelings about the progress observed after voting at about 8:50 am, Mrs Afuye commended the voters for turning out in large numbers to exercise their franchise, describing this as evidence that Nigeria's democracy is maturing and developing rapidly.
Mrs Afuye appealed to political gladiators to adhere to the electoral rules set by INEC in order to maintain the peaceful atmosphere that has accompanied the election from the start to the collation stage.
"You can see for yourselves how people turned out to participate in this election. Not only turning out, but being ready and eager to participate in the voting. I am truly impressed with the conduct of our voters," she said.
"I am not focusing solely on Ikere; we are receiving the same information from some of our other local governments and towns about how our voters are coming out in large numbers. I am happy about this. It shows that the rigorous campaigns we conducted yielded positive results."
"I must also commend INEC and our security agencies. They prepared well for this election. You can see that no one is being intimidated, and I believe if we continue like this, this election may turn out to be the best in Ekiti history."
Asked to predict the outcome of the poll, Mrs Afuye stated that her boss, Governor Biodun Oyebanji, has served Ekiti with every fibre of his being and is widely regarded as having performed excellently. She expressed confidence that the APC candidate will triumph in the election.
"Governor Oyebanji is not only winning this election, but it will be with a wide margin," she said.
