FORMER President Olusegun Obasanjo, on Saturday, said that the voter apathy that characterised the presidential poll in Ogun State and some other parts of the country was not unusual.
Obasanjo, who cast his vote at 12.35pm at his polling unit, ward 11 unit 14, African Church Grammar School, said that since the return of democracy in 1999, the presidential election had been characterised by low turnout of voters.
The former President spoke just as his daughter, Senator Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello, was conspicuously absent at her African Church Grammar School ward 11, unit 14 polling centre.
The Independent National Electoral Commission ad-hoc staff member, who apparently deliberately delayed voting, hoping that she would surface, had to start the voting process after her father cast his vote.
There was no information from Obasanjo-Bello, a member of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, to explain her absence.
The senator, who heads the Senate Committee on Health, lost her seat to the Action Congress of Nigeria during the last Saturday’s National Assembly election.
But her father, who was in company with his wife, Bola, expressed satisfaction at the election, describing it as a victory for Nigerians and Nigeria.
“I believe that to all of us Nigerians, it is a sign of victory. We elected a president and we went about it peacefully and at the end a winner will emerge.
“From what I have seen so far and from the reports that I have received, this election is generally peaceful and orderly.
“To all of us, especially the party whose candidate wins, it is our victory and a victory for democracy. Every election in a way moves us towards consolidation of our democracy. My own election in 1999 put paid to ethnic politics in Nigeria and I hope this one too will put an end to whatever may be the monster that is trying to rear its ugly head in another area.”
The former President was earlier accredited about 11.31pm.
By Francis Falola and Sesan Olufowobi Courtesy Of: Punch
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