Date: 2015-03-27

There was heavy vehicular movement around the Ilorin metropolis, Kwara State, on Thursday evening as residents, who registered in the state, arrived from across the country to cast their votes. Our correspondent, who toured the Garri Alimi, ‎Oja Oba, Alore and Sobi areas of the the state capital, noticed large number of people who had travelled from other parts of the country to the state capital.

The returnees said they had come from the south-western and northern parts of the country to ‎exercise their vote for their candidates at home.

Some of them, who spoke with our correspondents, gave reasons why they decided to travel home for the polls despite the inconveniences.

Lateef Adebayo said he regretted not participating in the 2011 general elections, adding that he came home this time to vote for his choice of candidates to avoid blaming himself later.

He said, “I did not vote in the last elections and I believe there are thousands of Nigerians, who have such non-challant attitude like me. Recently, it occurred to me that why do I blame bad governments when I did not vote. May be, they would not have been voted into power if I and others like me had come to vote.

“In fact, I came home last month too to collect‎ my PVC.”

Yusufu Idris, a tailor in Ondo State, said‎ he was convinced to some extent that his vote would count going by the arrangements put in place by the Independence National Electoral Commission.

He said, “I have a feeling that with the use of PVC and card reader, rigging will be very difficult. That is what pushed me to leave my work and travel all the way from Akure with my wife to vote because we registered here in 2011. I believe my vote will count this time around.”

Forty-three-year-old Amudalat Adeshina said‎ she and her husband hailed from Ilorin but live in Minna, Niger State.

She added they usually come home every two months to visit their son and daughter, who school in the University of Ilorin.

Mr. Gbadeyan Joseph, a resident of Sango, said the zeal with which his friends in Abuja disc‎ussed elections, prompted him to come home in February to collect his PVC.

“‎I work as a mechanical engineer with a company in Abuja. I have been living there for two years now. Most of my friends said they would rather go home to vote and mobilise others to do so rather than transfer their registration to Abuja. I think Nigerians are becoming wiser by the day and more people are willing to vote their conscience irrespective of monetary inducement from politicians,” he said.

A commercial driver, Abiodun ‎Jimoh, also shared a similar view with Joseph’s colleagues, saying he had come to Ilorin from Alapa, in the Asa Local Government Area of Kwara State to mobilise his relatives to vote.