The chairman of the commission, Hashim Abioye, alleged the sealing up of the secretariat by security operatives and arrest of some officials of the commission.
Earlier yesterday morning when he featured on a live radio programme in Osogbo, Abioye had lamented that police presence was not visible at the polling units.
He said, “So far, so good, the report has been positive and the conduct has been very smooth and peaceful as against the false alarm raised by the police.
“The only thing is that some of the areas where materials were supposed to have arrived at for voters to cast their votes, we have reports of police arresting our officials. I don’t know on whose order they did that because there was no court order to have warranted the arrest of our officials.
“I want to assure our people that for those who are still awaiting the arrival of our electoral officials, it is because the police arrested some of them for committing no crime at all, but as it is, we have deployed materials to those polling units because we have enough on ground and as we speak, voting is ongoing there.
“I leave the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) in the hands of God.
“Election has started earnestly in all the polling units across the state but no police presence is noticeable from the information available to me.”
While there was voter apathy in several parts of the three senatorial districts due to fear of recent violence that characterised political activities in the state, other areas witnessed large turnout of voters.
However, except for strategic positioning of security operatives across the state, there was no noticeable security operatives’ presence at polling stations.
In all, 16 political parties participated in the election. The Labour Party (LP) on Friday called for its postponement for security reasons while the leading opposition party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) withdrew from the exercise.
The Osogbo chairmanship candidate of Labour Party had on Friday decried the volatile political atmosphere in the state and expressed the fear that the lives of his supporters might be at risk.
Shortly after voting at his polling unit in Sagba/Abogunde Ward 2, Unit 9, Ede, Governor Ademola Adeleke described the election as peaceful and in line with due process.
He urged all eligible voters to exercise their franchise peacefully.
Adeleke emphasised the importance of grassroots democracy and called on the people to participate actively without fear of intimidation.
While commending President Bola Tinubu for supporting rule of law which enabled election to hold, the governor refuted a report that he attacked the presidency or the person of the president.
Adeleke said, “In my first state broadcast on this crisis, I said this about the president: ‘Let me affirm that I know Mr President to be a true democrat, a lover of the rule of law and a believer in the sanctity of the judicial process. I know, as a matter of fact, that Mr President will never authorise a dictatorial violation of the constitution irrespective of who is involved. It is crucial to add that Mr President will never support any action that is capable of generating bloodbath and bloodshed.
“In my second broadcast, I said this about Mr President: ‘We have confidence in the democratic credentials of President Tinubu, who we know will always insist on the rule of law.”
The governor who described the entire process as seamless, commended OSSIEC for a job well done.
The speaker of the Osun State House of Assembly, Adewale Egbedun, cast his vote at Unit 5, Ward 9, Asi in Odo-Otin local government area of the state and praised OSSIEC for the peaceful conduct of the election. He also commended the electorate for coming out to exercise their voting rights.
The state chairman of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Dr Oluwatosin Odeyemi, said the party and its candidates were studying the situation and would make their position known to the public soon.
Speaking with LEADERSHIP Sunday, one of the voters who identified himself as Mr Adeoti Adewale commended the efforts of the electoral body in making the exercise a successful one and appreciated God that the conduct of the election was hitch-free.
