Apathy as APC sweeps Ogun council polls

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has won more than ninety percent of the chairmanship and councillorship elections held on Saturday in Ogun State.

Already, the Ogun State Independent Electoral Commission (OGESIEC) has announced the results of the election held into the 20 local government councils and 37 Local Council Development Areas(LCDAs) of the state.

Chairperson of the commission, Mrs Risikat Ogunfemi, who declared the results said the ruling APC won the Chairmanship positions in all the 20 local governments and 37 LCDAs.

The party also won 346 councillorship seats out of the 349 wards in the state.

The Unity Party of Nigeria, however, won two councillorship seats while the PDP won one in the election which a total of 17 political parties participated in the poll.

In a related development, the apathy displayed by electorate during the chairmanship and councillorship elections in Ogun State has been blamed on poor mobilisation by political parties.

Low voters turnout characterised the election in the 57 local governments and area development councils in Ogun State on Saturday.

The Secretary of the Forum of State Independent Electoral Commission (FSIEC), Otunba Segun Oladitan, who lamented the poor turnout of voters, after going round some voting centres across Ogun Central Senatorial District, described the development as unhealthy for democracy.

“The electoral body should not be held responsible for the apathy,” he said.

“It is the parties, the politicians, they should have mobilised and sensitised their followers.

“We should know that voting process has changed. Unlike before, where you first get accredited and come back to vote. Now, you just get accredited and vote and you can come back to witness the counting of the results.”