Dr Yunus Akintunde, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for Oyo Central Senatorial District, has lauded the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on the performance of Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) during Saturday election.
Akintunde made the commendation in an interview with newsmen on Saturday after casting his vote along with his wife at Pakoyi Idode, Unit 3, Benson Open Space, Oyo Town.
According to him, the performance of BVAS in this election is fantastic.
Akintunde, while expressing satisfaction with conduct of the election and the functioning of BVAS, said he was sure of winning the election.
He said that the election exercise went on smoothly with the presence of security agents in all the polling units, while the electorate conducted themselves peacefully and cooperated with the INEC ad hoc staff.
The APC candidate said that the people of Oyo Town were known to be non-violent and peace loving people, who always work as a family.
He said, even if there was no single police in Oyo Town, the election would still hold peacefully to show the level of friendship in the town.
Akintunde, however, called on INEC to continue to make improvement in the subsequent election, adding that there was always need for improvement in all aspects of life.
He said that 10 years ago, there was nothing like BVAS, which was an indication that the system was improving.
The senatorial candidate said he was optimistic that the subsequent election would be better than this present election.
Meanwhile, the elections witnessed impressive turn out of voters in Oyo Town and its environs.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the exercise was peaceful in all the polling booth visited by our Correspondents within the township and Ilora, a neighbouring.
Also, Rep. Akeem Adeyemi, seeking re-election, representing the Afijio, Oyo West, Oyo East, Atiba West Federal Constituency, lauded the efficiency of the electronic device adopted by INEC for conduct of the election.
Adeyemi, son of the late Alaafin of Oyo, said: “If we remove the little hiccups of the BIVAS machines encountered in the morning, the voting exercise was fine, as people were accredited and voted immediately.
“So far, so good, there is no security challenge here; we are all happy, you can see our people as they came out in their large numbers to vote and going back to their respective homes after voting.
“This is the first time in the history of Nigeria that people will come out to vote without relying on money inducement.
“Nigerians are really determined to elect their representatives and they have begun to understand that their votes count.
“This is the first time I will experience election in Nigeria where people understand that there was no cash.
“Nigerians have been able to prove that our election is no longer monetised; downtrodden people are no longer enticed with cash to perform their civic duty.
“It enables Nigerians to elect their leaders without any money inducement.
“With the impressive turn out, it has really showed that 85 per cent of the people have determined whom to vote for,” Adeyemi said.
He commended the voters for turning out enmasse for the election. (NAN)
