John Adams Minna
Former Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, has expressed worries over the low turnout of voters during yesterday’s governorship and House of Assembly elections, saying the development was bad for the nation’s democracy.
Abdulsalami, who spoke shortly after casting his vote at the Up Hill Polling Unit, blamed the low turnout of voters on the outcome of the presidential and National Assembly elections.
“I am short of words to describe the low turnout of voters in today’s election because the difference is clear when compared to the large turnout of the last presidential election. Certainly, the turnout of voters during the presidential and National Assembly elections is much when compared to that of today’s governorship and House of Assembly elections, probably because people are tired or because they were disenfranchised during the previous elections. But one thing that is glaring is that the turnout in today’s election is low,” he said.
Abubakar, however, said he was happy that despite the display of apathy on the side of the electorate, there was peace and order in the state.
“I want to advise the contestants to accept the outcome of the elections in good faith having at the back of their minds that there must be a winner and a looser,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Speaker Niger State House of Assembly, Ahmed Marafa Guni, has that said the low turnout of voters could be attributed to the fact that the people were only interested in re-electing President Muhammadu Buhari.
Speaking to newsmen after casting his vote at Sabon Gari, he expressed concern over the future of the All Progressives Congress (APC) after Buhari in 2023.