Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, the Governor of Kaduna State, has expressed concern regarding the lack of enthusiasm among voters in the state, particularly among women.
Accompanied by his wife and other government officials, he visited polling station 024 Marnona at Unguwan Sarki Kaduna, where he patiently waited in line like any other citizen to cast his vote.
Governor el-Rufai reported that, as of his visit to the polling station, the election process in Kaduna State had been smooth, with only three incidents to note. The first incident occurred when suspected party thugs attacked a rice mill the previous night, and the police are investigating the matter. The second incident involved snatching BVAS and ballot boxes in Southern Kaduna, and the third involved snatching two ballot boxes in Soba.
“Of course, these are no incidents at all, because whether you snatch ballot boxes or BVAS or not, it doesn’t matter, the technology has gone beyond the primitive rigging system that political actors are used to.
“I must commend INEC for this improvement, so far, everything appears orderly across the state; all the reports we are getting are positive.
“My only concern is low voter turnout, people are not coming out to vote. And I want to appeal to everyone to please come out and vote, because you have once in four years opportunity to pick your leaders and you should take it seriously.”
“It is the leaders that you select today that will run the affairs of your country for the next four years. So, please don’t stay back at home, come out and vote. And remember anytime you don’t come out to vote, you are giving opportunities to people you don’t like two more votes, because your vote will reduce the gap by one, but if you don’t come out, you are giving them by default two more votes.
“There is still time between now and 2:30pm to come out and vote. I have been here on the queue for the past 45 minutes, waiting for my turn to vote. My wife has voted because the queue for women surprisingly this time is shorter than that of men. I am appealing to finish cooking and come out vote, because it is what you do today, that will determine the direction of your state and country for the next four years.”