Jimi Agbaje Laments Low Turnout Of Voters As He Votes In Apapa

Jimi Agbaje, the PDP governorship candidate in Lagos state has stated that low turnout in the March 9 governorship election could be as a result of inadequacies of the last presidential election.

He stated this at his polling unit; PU 004, Ward A, Hinderea Road, Liverpool, Apapa, Lagos West after casting his vote alongside his wife.

Mr Agbaje was only able to vote after several attempts with the card reader, his fingerprint was identified.

Mr Agbaje who cast his vote around 10:46 am told journalists that low turnout during election should be a concern to all those that want to advance democracy because the citizens must be part and parcel of democratic process.

“When you don’t have a good turn-out, there are many factors that could account for it. In the case of Lagos today, it could be as a result of what happened in the last election in terms of intimidation, thuggery, ballot box snatching, violence, that could have affected it,” he said.

“But there are deeper issues, if the people do not believe in the process, then they ask themselves why bother. It’s a chicken and egg situation and we must continue to appeal to the people that they must believe in the process and exercise their rights.”.

Furthermore, while addressing some issues of the electioneering process, Mr Agbaje stated that quite a number of PUs haven’t started voting because some of the adhoc staff have not been paid, so they are not going to work.

He also talked about the card readers malfunction as this can cause disenfranchisement of some people. “Today fortunately, after several attempts, the card reader was able to identify my fingerprint.”

When asked about his chances of winning the election, Mr Agbaje said “I have no doubt about that, all I need is that there is no violence, ballot box snatching, ballot papers burning and we do not have the kind of intimidation that we had in last election. The numbers are on our side and we have no cause to fear.”