By-election: Farming activities take toll on voter turnout

Low turnout of voters characterise Saturday’s by-election in Lere Federal Constituency of Kaduna State, reports Supreme.

A Correspondent of the Agency covering the election in Saminaka, headquarters of the constituency and it’s environs,reports that people went about their normal activities, just as most polling units had few voters.

Some of the voters interviewed attributed this development to farming activities, as people considered their farms as of topmost priority over the election of their representative.

Others said that a lot of the electorate had lost confidence in the process, and had felt their votes might not count even if they exercised their franchise.

Mr Lazarus Ishaya, a politician, said people were engrossed in farming and had little or no time for voting, especially considering the current economic situation in the country.

He said the turnout might improve later in the day when people might have returned from their farms.

However ,Khadijah Usman, another political said that loss of confidence in the electoral process was a major factor responsible for the apathy.

According to her, a lot of voters are still skeptical about the relevance of their votes considering their experiences in the past.

Other respondents gave same reasons as being responsible for the poor turnout of voters, but added that the situation might change.

Supreme however reports that the election, which was generally peaceful across the area, started as scheduled, with accreditation and voting taking place simultaneously.

The Card Readers in all the polling units visited were in perfect condition as at the time of filing this report.

The by-election into the Lere Federal Constituency is being conducted to fill the seat, sequel to the death of the member representing the constituency, Hon. Suleiman Lere, who passed away in April.

Political parties that fielded candidates are People’s Democratic Party (PDP), All Progressives Congress (APC), Young Progressives Party (YPP), All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and People’s Redemption Party (PRP).