Why presidential election witnessed low votes - Don

The low turnout of voters recorded during Saturday’s presidential election was due to the introduction of the card reader, Professor of Political Science and International Relations Hassan Salihu has said.

He said the card reader has truncated plans by some politicians to rig the elections.

Daily Trust reports that out of the over 50 million registered voters, not more than 50 per cent participated in the election.

Speaking with our correspondent in Ilorin, Salihu of the University of Ilorin said the scenario was expected with the introduction of the card reader which, he noted, minimised fraud.

He said: “I am one of those who have always been critical of INEC but I am beginning to have a change of mind in the sense that the card reader that was used by Jega has gone a long way in minimising fraud.

“It was shocking to me that Lagos returned less than two million votes. In the past, it used to be 4 million or 3 million. It was shocking to me that Kwara would return less than 500,000 votes. It is shocking to me because in 2007, I think Kwara gave Yar’Adua about 700, 000 votes.

“In a way, the card reader has minimised the amount of fraud and in a way, it has confirmed, in my own view that the June 12 ,1993 election remains the best because people have contested the number of voters that time.

“It suggests to me that because of the modified open ballot system we adopted, the election reflected almost accurately the wishes of Nigerians.”

The scholar urged General Muhammadu Buhari, the president-elect, to immediately set in motion the process of preaching his gospel to the people around him to enable him succeed, saying expectations of Nigerians are high.