Residents in Ilorin the Kwara state capital have expressed divergent views in taking part in the 2023 general elections given the challenges in the country our Correspondent in Ilorin has the report
With the untold hardship on residents caused by the implementation of the naira redesign policy, insecurity and others Kwara residents have expressed different views on the issues which Rulers’world media correspondent in Ilorin Taiwo Ogunniyi find out if it would affect their decision to vote or not
Joy Olufemi has this to say “I’m not going out to vote, no money, people are suffering, no food, I don’t how tight the security will be
Grace Tunde said ” i’m not going out to vote, I’m trying to safe guard my life besides I don’t know if the security will be tight I will stay indoors, I don’t have cash, I don’t have food, an hungry man is an angry man people are frustrated already.
Mr Ifeoluwa John said “The Nigerian atmosphere is harsh at the moment . I am almost stranded here before you met me . As we all know the cash crunch is not taking it easy on most of us. So I want the next government to be more considerate .
I believe the ballot is more powerful than the bullet so I will go to the polls to excercise my human right. I hereby call on the INEC to ensure that the election is free and fair.
“I am positive the president is doing his best to ensure the election goes well . He promised that in his speech last week. Therefore as a positive minded citizen , I will not be discouraged to play my part in ensuring democracy has its foothold in this country.
Our challenge is leadership . I am casting my vote for my candidate he is the motivation to me .
Miracle Damilare said “actually I have been voting here for a very long time, and ever since I have been voting there’s always free and fair election here in my polling unit. But the fact that things are changing everyday, expectations are always defer from each other, so what I will love to see in the election day is maximum security, Free and fair election. As we all know people are not really happy with the present situation in the country, this election is will be deferent from that of the previous elections. I have to vote for a better candidate of my choice”
Mr. Bamigbose David said he’s ready to participate in the forthcoming elections.
“The state of insecurity notwithstanding does not have negative impact on my decision to participate in the elections.”
Public Affairs Analyst Mr Musa Aliu, the executive director media advocacy and technology centre said “our expectation for the coming election is that the election is expected to be the one that is going to change the leadership in Nigeria from one democratic dispensation to another at the national level, so we expect the political class to buckle up their games and ensure that they promote violent free and fair credible election across their supporters and for the electorate, we expect everybody to go out and let our wish reflect on the choice of those who we want to entrust with the leadership of the country for the next four years. We can see that INEC is telling us that they are ready but from the look of things we don’t see election happening, election will not even hold in the sense that the happenings and the environment right now in Nigeria don’t seems to be accommodating to any form of election, the issue of fuel scarcity is enough hindrance for people to freely move to go and cast their votes. Whether we like it or not people will have to move from one location to another, from their place of resident to the place where the voters card is domiciled. People move several kilometer if not from town to town with the kind of hardship being faced with fuel scarcity right now, definitely alot of people will be defranchised the issue of naira note is another major incuberance to the conduct of free fair and credible election. We expect people to go out the issue of no money no cash is actually going to be deterrent to many people moving because whether we like it or not people we use one naira or two naira for survival things even if it is pure water at the level of voting people will still have to hold something to pocket in a situation whereby we have been buying naira with naira people have been buying at different rate will make people not to vote but never the less, we expect Nigerians to still decide if this is what they want or they want changes in their lives using the power of the ballot box
Meanwhile, The Kwara State Police Command has assured the citizens and residents of Kwara State of its preparation and readiness to protect them, voters, INEC officials, foreign and local observers, and of course, all relevant stakeholders.
This was contained in a statement signed by the Spokesperson of the command, SP Okasanmi Ajayi and made available to newsmen in Ilorin on Tuesday.
According to him, the command, as the lead agency in election security, has in synergy with other sister security agencies put all necessary strategies on the ground to ensure the 2023 elections are peaceful, credible, and acceptable.
“Consequently, the citizens are advised not to panic or become agitated when they witness movements of security personnel from one part of the state to another; this is part of the strategy put in place to protect the citizens and residents and a way to deter would-be criminal elements from entering Kwara State.
“This decision was reached at an emergency security meeting attended by the heads of security agencies in the state and chaired by the Commissioner of Police, Kwara State, CP Paul Odama, psc (+), in the presence of some United Nations election monitors.
“The security heads agreed to work in synergy with all relevant agencies to make elections in Kwara State peaceful and credible,” Ajayi said.
Also, The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) says it has deployed about 1,000 personnel for the upcoming general elections in Kwara.
The Comptroller of NIS in the state, Mr Aminu Shamsuddin, confirmed this to the newsmen in llorin on Tuesday on the command’s preparation for the elections.
Shamsuddin said that the personnel be deployed to all polling units and border areas in the state to guard against aliens participating in the elections.
“All district officers will also be on standby to ensure peaceful conduct of the election,” he said.
He warned foreigners not to involve in the election in anyway, warning that any foreigner found near the polling units will be arrested, repatriated and blacklisted.
The comptroller advised Nigerians living in border areas to remain calm, conduct themselves in an orderly manner and be rest assured that all the security personnel would ensure peace and safety.
Despite the challenges, it is hopeful that millions of positive minded citizens will head to the polling units come Saturday to exercise their right .
