Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State has commended the Independent National Electoral Commission on the conduct of the Saturday governorship election in the state.
Governor Bello who made the commendation after performing his civic responsibility in the state on Saturday, expressed optimism that Usman Ododo of the All Progressives Congress would emerge victorious in the ongoing governorship election in the state.
While commending INEC for the conduct of the election, the governor also praised security operatives for offering residents of Kogi a peaceful environment to participate in the election.
“I am optimistic that our candidate, Usman Ododo, will emerge victorious at the end of the exercise,” NAN quoted Bello as saying.
“We have come out in numbers to cast our votes. I have just cast my vote and others are casting their votes. It is timely. All materials were deployed within the time stipulated.
“So far I haven’t heard of complaints from any quarter. The conduct of INEC so far has been so fantastic. All the security agencies have conducted themselves so far very professionally.
“Citizens that are exercising their franchise are doing that freely. There are no hitches; no rancour.
“We are united and we are happy at this exercise. By the special grace of God, we are going to come off very triumphant.”
Governor Bello who also spoke on the 201 governorship election, said there was no incidence of electoral violence in Kogi as it was only “a media creation”.
“Go into history; go into records and compare my regime and that of the previous ones,” he said.
“You will discover that in the regime of Gov. Bello, the conduct of elections has been violence-free exercises; the freest; the freest, fair and credible.
“Therefore, the issue of violence in our election in Kogi is a media creation and figment of the imagination of all those who do not want good things to happen here in Kogi.
“There is nothing like violence. The conduct of free and fair and credible election is in the hands of security agencies and the citizens.”
On his part, Ododo expressed satisfaction at the conduct of security operatives and praised them for ensuring that things were smooth and peaceful.
“While I express confidence at winning this election, I thank Kogi people for turning out en-masse to vote in the crucial exercise,’’ he said.
