Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State has expressed satisfaction with improvements recorded with the voting patterns over the years in Nigeria.
Speaking after casting his vote in the governorship and House of Assembly elections in Kaduna, El-Rufai expressed optimism that very soon in years to come, the issues of rigging and other electoral problems would be overcome and Nigerians will get who they voted for.
According to Governor El-Rufai, though many eligible voters did not come out early in the morning, he expressed confidence that they would come out in large numbers as the day goes by to exercise their constitutional rights by electing candidates of their choice.
Speaking on the election in the state, Governor El-Rufai stated, “The security personnel are on top of the situation to ensure an enabling environment is created to give eligible voters and candidates their choice. I am optimistic that the exercise will be peaceful and winners emerge.”
The state chairman, Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Rev. John Joseph Hayab on his part requested that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) give Nigerians who they voted for in order to restore the confidence of Nigerians in the election umpire.
He explained that most of the places he visited have been peaceful and expressed confidence that the exercise would be generally peaceful, adding that INEC started the voting early and believed that the exercise will end in peace.
Sheikh Hairu Maraya, a former Special Adviser on Islamic Matters to the late Patrick Ibrahim Yakowa, observed that the exercise is peaceful as voting started on time and people came out in their numbers to exercise their franchise.
Rev Dr James Wuye. The Co-executive Director, Interfaith Mediation Centre, Kaduna, called for calmness and a violence-free exercise, tasking Nigerians to remain peaceful in conducting the election.
Imam Dr. Nurayn Ashafa, the Co-executive Director IMC, also call for calmness and non-election violence, saying that Nigerians should embrace peaceful coexistence in all that they do as citizens of the country.
Media Talk Africa reports that as at 7:15am, the distribution of materials commenced at most polling units and voting started as early as some minutes after eight in the morning.
