Voters in Ekiti State are turning out to elect the governor who will step in on 16th October as the tenure of Dr Kayode Fayemi ends.
In all, 988,923 registered voters across 16 Local Government Areas are expected to file out to determine the fate of 16 candidates on the ballot. But 749,065 permanent voter cards had been collected by last Monday.
The state has 2,445 polling units in 177 registration areas.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said voting would be by continuous accreditation and voting system. The accreditation process, it explained, would comprise authentication and verification of voters, using the 3,346 bimodal accreditation system deployed by the commission.
The accreditation and voting runs from at 8:30 am to 2:30 pm. But any voter already in the queue by 2:30m pm will be allowed to vote.
The leading candidates are Abiodun Oyebanji of the All Progressives Congress, the party of the incument Governor; Olabisi Kolawole of the Peoples Democratic Party; and Olusegun Oni of the Social Democratic Party.
Others include Reuben Famuyibo of Accord, Ajagunigbale Olajide of African Action Congress, Oluwole Oluyede of the African Democratic Congress, Elebute-Halle Kemi of Action Democratic Party and Benjamin Obidoyin of the All Progressives Grand Alliance.
Also contesting are Fagbemi Adegbenro of Allied Peoples Movement, Christiana Olatawura of All People’s Party, Daramola Olugbenga Onile of Labour Party, Fatomilola Oladosu of New Nigeria Peoples Party and Iyaniwura Ifedayo of the National Rescue Movement.
Also in the race are Agboola Ben of the Peoples Redemption Party, Adebowale Oluranti Ajayi of Young Progressives Party and Adeolu Akinyemi of Zenith Labour Party.
INEC had assured Nigerians that the people of the state would determine their next Governor, while security agencies also pledged to secure a peaceful environment for the poll.
