AS the Ondo State governorship election is held today Saturday, November 16, The ICIR observed a lack of life jackets and other safety measures at the Igbonla Waterfront in Ilaje Local Government Area.
A large crowd of young and old adults, including children were seen boarding canoes at the waterfront without any life jackets and safety information from people paddling the canoes.
The waterfront leads to other riverine areas like Obe Nla, Obeji, Obearelewo, Obefela, Oberewoye and Obeagun.
According to a resident, Katode Otunwi, most of the adults are voters going to polling units in several communities in the area to cast their ballots.
The incumbent governor of the state and the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Lucky Ayedatiwa, is from one of the communities – Obe-Nla.
The ICIR reported that Ayedatiwa voted in Obe-Nla around 9 am. He is seeking his first election as governor, after he succeeded the late Governor Rotimi Akeredolu died on December 27, 2023, after a prolonged illness.
Ayedatiwa was Akeredolu’s deputy from 2021 until the Owo-born governor passed on.
A total of 1,757,205 voters who collected permanent voter’s card are expected to cast their ballots in the 3,933 polling units across the 203 Wards in the 18 local government areas of the state.
According to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), 18 political parties are featuring candidates. However, The ICIR reported that three candidates withdrew from the race.
The Appeal Court also sacked the Labour Party candidate in the election, Olusola Ebiseni, on Thursday, November 14.
The leading contenders in the poll are Aiyedatiwa and the former Deputy Governor Agboola Ajayi of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP).
They are both from the southern senatorial region of the state.
The ICIR reports that Agboola was deputy to the late Governor Rotimi Akeredolu between 2017 and 2021 before an unresolved feud pushed the late governor to pick Ayedatiwa as his deputy during his 2020 re-election.
A reporter with the ICIR
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