By Cosmas Okereafor
The gubernatorial election of Osun state, which is one of the off circle election in the country, ended few hours ago. The election witnessed large turn out of electorates against all odd and predictions of so many political pundits.According to a report monitored on television, Osun indigens trooped out in large numbers early in the morning to perform their civic duty contrary to the expectation that, there would be aparthy based on the hate speeches and threats by some politicians within and outside the state.Accreditation of voters, started very early in the day and the turn out was very impresive, against the expectation of many Nigerians who thought that, the election will be marred by voilence.However, there were pockets of disruption here and there, but the police authority said, the situation was brought under control before it could snowball and spread to other areas of the state.The candidates of all the various parties confirmed that, the process was seamless, devoid of intimidation, harrassment , and disfrenchisement. However, unconfirmed report stated that about 100 people who came to Osun from neighbouring states with the intention to disrupt the exercise according to police sources are now cooling their feets in the police study.The build up of todays election, no doubt sent jitters down the spines of the electorates in the state due to violence that erupted in some parts of the state that left some people dead.Generally, todays election have been described as peaceful but there are still room for improvement by the electoral umpire because election commenced late in some areas and followed with the malfunction of the BIVAS in many polling units.While the result for the winners is being awaited latest by midnight or early hours of tomorrow, its important for INEC to ensure that, the integrity of this election is not compromised under any guise. The peoples choice must be respected.
