Yahaya Bello, governor of Kogi state, says he is optimistic that Usman Ododo, gubernatorial candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the ongoing election, would emerge victorious.
Bello spoke on Saturday after voting at his polling unit in Okene LGA.
He commended INEC for the conduct of the election and praised security operatives for offering residents of Kogi the peaceful environment to participate in the election.
“I am optimistic that our candidate, Usman Ododo, will emerge victorious at the end of the exercise,” NAN quoted Bello as saying.
“We have come out in numbers to cast our votes. I have just cast my vote and others are casting their votes. It is timely. All materials were deployed within the time stipulated.
“So far I haven’t heard of complaints from any quarter. The conduct of INEC so far has been so fantastic. All the security agencies have conducted themselves so far very professionally.
“Citizens that are exercising their franchise are doing that freely. There are no hitches; no rancour.
“We are united and we are happy at this exercise. By the special grace of God we are going to come off very triumphant.”
Speaking of the governorship election of 2019, the governor said there was no incidence of electoral violence in Kogi as it was only “a media creation”.
“Go into history; go into records and compare my own regime and that of the previous ones,” he said.
“You will discover that in the regime of Gov. Bello, conduct of elections has been violence-free exercises; the freest; the most free, fair and credible.
“Therefore, the issue of violence in our election in Kogi is a media creation and figment of imagination of all those who do not want good things to happen here in Kogi.
“There is nothing like violence. The conduct of free and fair and credible election is in the hands of security agencies and the citizens.”
On his part, Ododo expressed satisfaction at the conduct of security operatives and praised them for ensuring that things were smooth and peaceful.
“While I express confidence at winning this election, I thank Kogi people for turning out en-masse to vote in the crucial exercise,’’ he said.