Aiyedatiwa, the incumbent gov and APC candidate and PDP’s Ajayi, are the two leading candidates in the Ondo guber election
By Kehinde Okeowo
Ondo State electorates will today troop out to various polling booths to elect who will pilot the affairs of the state for the next four years.
A total of 17 political parties were cleared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to participate in the exercise with a total of 1,793,914 voters expected to decide the fate of the candidates.
The battle for the soul of Ondo State will be fiercer in the southern senatorial district of the state where 16 of the 17 governorship candidates are from.
The two leading candidates in the battle for the Alagbaka Governor’s office are the incumbent governor and candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Hon Lucky Aiyedatiwa and the flagbearer of the leading opposition, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Agboola Ajayi.
While Aiyedatiwa of the APC is from Ilaje LGA, his major opponent and PDP candidate, Ajayi is from Ese-Odo LGA.
This puts more pressure on the people of the zone, as they cast their votes in today’s governorship election in the state.
The situation is, however, generating diverse views amongst residents of the Southern Senatorial zone regarding which of the candidates to give their votes in today’s election.
While some voters feel obliged to cast their votes for candidates from their local governments, others opposed to this say voting based on such a sentiment can be counter-productive on the long run.
Speaking to Daily NewsHub, a resident of Akure, the state capital, Femi Adewale, said he’ll vote in today’s election according to the dictates of his conscience and not based on any other sentiment.
“I’m an Ilaje indigene living in Akure. I’ve just arrived in my hometown for tomorrow’s election. I’ll be voting tomorrow based on what my conscience tells me and not because any of the candidates is my kinsman.
“This is democracy and we must choose the best candidate irrespective of his place of origin. This is the only thing that can help us.”
However, another resident, who identified herself as Kemi Bamisaiye, said she would support any of the candidates since they are all from Ondo South zone.
Meanwhile, the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) on Thursday expressed its readiness for Ondo gubernatorial election, saying it has tightened security across all the 18 local governments of the state.
This was disclosed in a statement issued by the Force Public Relations Officer, Muyiwa Adejobi in Abuja.
According to him, the security agency is fully ready to ward off any form of threat during the poll, as it has firmed up security architecture in the state by deploying officers across all the 203 wards and the 3, 933 polling units in the state.
He went on to assure that at least four Police officers in collaboration with other security personnel will be present at each polling unit, to ensure a smooth poll.
