Posted by By AUGUSTINE AVWODE, WILLY EYA, AGAPTUS ANAELE (Lagos), DAVID MALOMO & PETER ANOSIKE (Yola) on
As results of Saturday's re-run governorship election continue to trickle in, feelers from exit poll suggest that the former governor, Admiral Murtala Nyako (rtd) is in early lead and set to re-enact another victory to the Dougirei Government House, Yola.
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As results of Saturday's re-run governorship election continue to trickle in, feelers from exit poll suggest that the former governor, Admiral Murtala Nyako (rtd) is in early lead and set to re-enact another victory to the Dougirei Government House, Yola.
The poll, which was described as generally peaceful throughout the state, was however, dented by the report of the death of one person in a clash between supporters of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Action Congress(AC) in Michika.
It was gathered that supporters of the two main political parties tried to disrupt the voting process.
Deputy Inspector General of Police, Uba Ringim confirmed the skirmishes in Michika Local Government Area of the state leading to the death of person, one in critical condition and others received various degrees of injuries. He also confirmed the arrest of 16 persons in Michika and three in Yola for various electoral offences.
According to him, trouble broke out when some thugs stormed the Pallam ward in Michika, attempting to snatch ballot boxes, a development that degenerated into confusion before the security operatives intervened. He said the timely intervention of security operatives put the situation under control.
According to the police, the thugs were recruited from Biu, Borno State, by a politician who they declined to name.
Apart from Michika, there were also pockets of violence in Yola south. Though no casualty was recorded, a number of arrests were said to have been made.
An unnamed local government chairman in the Southern part of the state was said to have been found by the police with electoral materials on the eve of the election and now facing interrogation. However, efforts made by Sunday Sun to confirm the allegation from the police were not successful at press time as the Police Commissioner was said to be on monitoring duty.
Sources told Sunday Sun that Murtala Nyako, the governor whose last year's election was nullified by the courts on account of the exclusion of AC's Ibrahim Bapetel, was in early lead in the five metropolitan local government area of Adamawa.
A source told Sunday Sun that though it has not been officially announced, he was 'sure that Larmode local government has been completely won by Nyako and that the trend would be like that in most of the 21 local government areas of the state". The source said that the final result may not be obtained until Sunday evening because of the fact that the larger part of the state is in the rural areas and it would take time for the results to be ready.
Saturday's election witnessed large turn out of voters and characterized by peaceful conduct by both the voters and officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
And voting started on scheduled in most of the polling units, with people filing out as early as 7:00 am in long queues to exercise their civic responsibility.
Former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, in company of Bapetel voted at his Ajiya ward in Jimeta-Yola at about 11:08 where he expressed satisfaction with the large turn out of voters.
Atiku who spoke to newsmen shortly after casting his vote, commended the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the 'good arrangement and timely mobilization of materials and human resources for the conduct of the election."
According to him, INEC has the capacity in terms of resources to conduct free and fair election if there was a will to do it, adding that he would pass his general comment on the election when he gets report from the over 2,600 polling units of the state.
'Up till yesterday I was satisfied with the distribution of election materials but we have to wait for reports of what has happened in all the polling units. I have gone out, I have cast my vote and I am okay."
Acting governor, James Saibu Barka also commended INEC, saying: ' everything is going on according to plan. The vote is almost completed. I am very impressed, even the 2007 election was not as transparent as this one."
Former Petroleum Minister, Senator Jubril Aminu also had good words for the conduct of the election. He described it as 'very enthusiastic", saying 'the people of the state want Adamawa to develop."
To ensure a violence-free poll, the police high command had beefed up security with the deployment of no fewer than 10, 000 men to various polling areas.
Yesterday's election was conducted by 5218 people mobilized from across the country. While about 80 per cent of the number were permanent staff of the commission, the rest 20 per cent are from the National Youth Service Corps.
It was the second time in one year that a gubernatorial election would take place in the state following the nullification of last year's poll.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had returned Nyako of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as duly elected last year.
A total of 12 candidates were cleared for the election but that of the Alliance for Democracy (AD) died recently. Also, three national commissioners were deployed from the headquarters to man the three senatorial districts and were to assist the resident electoral commissioners in the zone.
The Adamawa election, for the record, was the second governorship re-run election conducted by INEC. The first was in Kogi on March 26, 2008.
While the contest is between Bapetel and Nyako, many believe that, that is just on the surface of it. Many are of the belief that the national secretariat of the PDP would be more interested in seeing the contest as a chance to humiliate former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, rather than merely defeating Bapetel. The arrival of President Umaru Yar'Adua on Friday from Germany where he had gone for medical check-up was said to have further bolstered the spirit of the PDP followers in the state.