Voters and observers have told EQ that Saturday’s Edo governorship election had the poorest turnout of all past elections they participated in.

More voters shunned the 2024 Edo governorship election due to a lack of confidence and distrust for the democratic process, EQ learnt.

Israel Olatunji-Tijani, an election observer, told EQ on Saturday that across the Egor, Ikopba/Okha, and Oredo local government areas he visited in the state, the voter turnout was shockingly low.

He said that the voter apathy could be linked to citizens’ lack of trust in the electoral process, and the lack of civic knowledge and orientation.

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Olatunji-Tijani explained that less than 10% of the voters were present at some polling units while some were entirely deserted.

“There is a continuous lack of interest in the democratic process, and the electorate is blaming it on lack of trust and the lack of civic education and orientation,” he told EQ on Saturday.

“Some of the voters even said the turnout was worse compared to the last elections, in Edokpolor Fac-Oloh 1, one of the polling units in Ikpoba/Okha local government, only two to three people were in the queue, whereas voting closes at 2:30 pm.

“And at this polling unit, there were 951 registered voters but only 93 people came out to vote.”

An image of low voter turnout from Edokpolor fac-Oloh Motors 1.

Low voter turnout from another polling unit in Ikpoba/Okha.

Olatunji-Tijani also said that at Edokpolor-Oloh Motors, another polling unit he visited, out of the 1138 voters accredited to vote, only 107 came out to exercise their franchise.

An analysis by EQ revealed that only 9.40% of voters in Edokpolor-Oloh Motors showed interest in exercising their franchise to get accredited and vote. The larger 90.60% shunned the polls.

For Edokpolor Fac-Oloh 1, only 9.78% of the electorate participated in the election, with 90.22% staying back.

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Sarah Samson, a voter who participated in the election at Ikopba/Okha, told EQ that the election was peaceful but a lot of people decided to stay out of it. However, she suggested the rain caused the low turnout of voters.

“There is low turnout across broad but this could be due to the rain, a lot of people did not come out at all,” Samson said.

An agent of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) who didn’t want to be named also told EQ that “the 2024 election has the poorest turnout of all past elections put together”.

Another voter in the state who simply identified himself as Parry said he would attribute the low turnout to fear.

Parry said that the residents were scared the election could turn violent.

“People are scared and they also believe their votes won’t count. But on my part, I am here because I believe in the civic process and that my vote would count,” Parry told EQ.

EQ reported earlier how vote buying and electoral violence marred the election in some parts of Edo on Saturday.

Some voters had to face physical abuse in some polling units. Others complained about delays in the voting process.
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