Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Adeniyi Adebayo, has commended the large turnout of voters and the innovations deployed by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the Ekiti governorship election.

Mr Adebayo, also a former Governor in Ekiti, made the commendation on Saturday while addressing journalists shortly after casting his vote at the Balogun Polling Unit in his home town, Iyin Ekiti, Ifelodun Local Government area.

The minister said that he would not have lost the 2003 election, if the election had been credible like the ongoing governorship election in the state.

“So far, the whole exercise has been peaceful and credible. The Bimodal Voters Accreditation System (BVAS) machine has been good in many instances, but there have been few problems here or there.

“Sometimes, it is not capturing the voter ID card, but people have been advised to still wait to be attended to or INEC finds a solution so that they will have the opportunity to cast their votes.

“In terms of security, it has been good. There is a large turn out of security agencies. The police are here in large numbers.

“In all, the electorate themselves have been very disciplined. So far, there have not been any incidents of violence or fighting,” Mr Adebayo said, advising voters to conduct themselves peacefully during and after the election.

“Get accredited, cast your votes and go home or stay around, listen to the results and go home and celebrate,” Mr Adebayo said.

(NAN)