Yobe deputy governor praises peaceful conduct of local council election

Yobe Deputy Governor Idi Barde Gubana has commended the State Independent Electoral Commission for conducting what he described as a peaceful local government election across the state. Gubana spoke on Saturday after casting his ballot at Polling Unit 008 in Dogon Kuka Ward, Fune Local Government Area. He also expressed satisfaction with the number of voters who turned out in the area.

The deputy governor said the participation showed that residents accepted democracy as the preferred form of government. He added that voter education and public sensitisation would receive greater attention in the future to strengthen democratic participation. The election was conducted in all 17 local government areas of Yobe State.

The News Agency of Nigeria reported that the exercise was largely peaceful across the state. SIEC Chairman Ibrahim Yabani said the commission had dispatched sensitive and non-sensitive electoral materials to polling units across the state’s 178 wards. He said some polling units regarded as flashpoints had been clustered and moved to safer locations.

According to Yabani, the relocations were intended to enable eligible voters in those areas to cast their ballots. The material does not state the results of the election or provide figures for voter turnout. Gubana was accompanied to the polling unit by Governor Mai Mala Buni’s Special Adviser on Security Matters, retired Brigadier-General Dahiru Abdulsalam, and the All Progressives Congress chairman in Fune Local Government Area, Yusuf Sinkin, among others.