The Speaker of the Edo State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Marcus Onobun, who is the candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the House of Representatives election in Esan Central/Esan West/Igueben Federal Constituency, has expressed confidence that he would emerge winner in the rescheduled National Assembly election in the constituency.
He stated this when he cast his vote at unit 5, Central Primary School, Iruekpen, Esan West Local Government Area of Edo State.
“I am very confident of winning at the end of the exercise. The people know us. We have campaigned across Esan Land. Having served them before, they know what we have been able to do.
“I am sure they need a voice like me. By the grace of God, that voice will be speak at the end of the day.”
He described the process as seamless, orderly and peaceful as at the time of the interview, adding that he expected that the same situation was the case in other parts of Esan land.
“The process is seamless, orderly and peaceful. I expect that the same thing is happening across the Senatorial District. So far, there has not been any negative incident. At the end of the day, I am very sure the winner we be the choice of the people,” he said.
Meanwhile, voters in Unit 1, in ward 5 of Ihumudumu Primary School, Esan West Local Government Area, were left frustrated following the failure of the BVAS machine to capture voters for accreditation.
As at 12:45pm, the BVAS machine was yet to capture a single voter, hence voting was yet to commence. There are a total of 1,041 registered voters in the polling unit.
A former chairman of Esan West Local Government Council, Chief Stella Okoro, who is the mother of Edo State House of Assembly speaker, described the situation as unusual, adding that he was forced to suspect a foul play.
She lamented that efforts to convince the INEC officials to resort to manual accreditation were unsuccessful.
“I have told the INEC officials that they must not disenfranchise any voter in that unit. I have told them to resolve the issues with the BVAS machine and ensure everybody votes,” she stated.
She also complained about low turnout of voters, saying that the turnout was a far cry from what it was two weeks ago during the presidential and National Assembly elections.
At Unit 16, Emaudo Primary School, a voter, Mrs. Ehighalua, lamented that the BVAS machine could not recognize her voter card, hence she was disenfranchised.
In some other parts of Edo Central Senatorial District, the story was the same.
