By Ayodele Oni
Despite boycott by opposition parties, Ekiti State Independent Electoral Commission, (EKSIEC) went ahead with the conduct of the local government election on Saturday.
People were going about with their normal activities despite restriction of movement between 7.00am and 2.00pm, with only those who are members of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) partially responding to call to vote.
The exercise was conducted to elect 25 chairmen, vice and councilors to the local governments ant Local Council Development Areas, (LCDA).
Those elected in Saturday’s election are expected to spend three years as against the outgoing officials that their two years tenure will terminate this month.
The state House of Assembly had earlier amended the local government law which stipulate two years for the elected officials to reflect three years.
Governor Biodun Oyebanji and his deputy, Monisola Afuye had joined other APC faithfuls to cast their votes in their respective polling units.
Speaking after voting,The deputy governor, commended the State Independent Electoral Commission(SIEC) for bringing radical and remarkable development to the conduct of the 2023 Local Government Election in the State.
Mrs Afuye said the large turnout of voters and violence-free atmosphere that marked the conduct of the local government election, were testimonies that there was tremendous improvement over that of 2021.
The Deputy Governor voted at unit 003, Atiba/Aafin Ward, in Ikere Ekiti.
According to her, the election was more competitive at the party’s primary, because of financial independence being savoured by the council under Governor Biodun Oyebanji’s administration.
She applauded the voters in Ikere Local Government Area and across the state, for demonstrating confidence and trust in the electoral process, by their impressive participation in the LG poll.
“The election has so far been peaceful and violence-free. And you could see how people are trooping out and queue to cast their votes. We are witnessing a remarkable improvement in our local government election.
“I know that today’s election shall be a success because all the stakeholders are ready to comply with the rules.”
She commended the Justice Cornelius Akintayo-led SIEC for bringing transparency and openness to the electoral process at the third tier of government.
“Going by what we have seen and information across the state, the process has been adjudged peaceful and transparent.
“The SIEC officials and observers were on ground in time and that further propelled the voters to come out to cast their votes for their preferred candidates. This is highly commendable.
“The atmosphere was serene and voters were not being coerced to vote for a particular candidate. They are given the freedom to vote for candidates of their choices; that is the beauty of democracy.
“With all these, those who will emerge in today’s election will know that they will be there to serve the people, so that our people can become more interested to participate in elections, especially the local government poll.”
 went ahead with the conduct of the local government election on Saturday.){kind=link}