Some residents in the Surulere axis of Lagos State on Saturday commended the Independent National Electoral Commission for the seamless voting exercise going on in six wards of Surulere Federal Constituency 1.
They also expressed gratitude for the tight security available at the various polling units.
Some of the voters at Ward 08, polling unit 017, spoke with our correspondent.
One of them who identified himself only as Olanrewaju for security reasons, stated that the the residents were excited that the voting exercise was going on without hindrance.
He said, “ We thank God there is no hindrance. Everything is moving well and there is no issue at all. As you can see people are happy that there is no violence. This is how an election should be.”
Another voter, Rasheedat expressed optimism about the conduct of the election, saying “With the way everything is going. We believe that the final result will reflect the voice of the people of Surulere. The election is peaceful and we are fine.”
Our correspondent also assessed the security situation in some of the polling units as voters who had already cast their votes sat calmly in groups discussing the possible outcome of the election.
At Ward 8 Polling Unit 17 located in Shomade Crescent adjacent INEC office, there was a large turnout of voters, while an INEC official stated that the turnout was average at Ward RA 7, Polling Unit 57 along the Shitta/Ogunlana Drive.
The exercise remained peaceful in some of the polling units assessed so far.
PUNCH Online earlier reported that the Independent National Electoral Commission is conducting by-elections and re-runs in 26 states today (Saturday).
The elections are holding in 80 Local Government Areas across 575 registration areas and 8,934 polling units.
The 26 states include Ebonyi, Yobe, Kebbi, Lagos, Ondo, Taraba, Benue, Borno, Kaduna, Plateau, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Cross River, Delta, Enugu, Jigawa, Katsina, Adamawa, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Kano, Nasarawa, Niger, Oyo, Sokoto and Zamfara.