Several Nigerians on Saturday commended President Muhammadu Buhari for the peaceful conduct of the 2023 presidential and National Assembly elections across the country. Many Nigerians who spoke to National Daily after casting their votes in Lagos, said that President Buhari has conducted the best elections, the most peaceful, credible and transparent elections in Lagos State. At the announcement of preliminary provisional result of the presidential election at various polling units in Ifako Ijaye, Ojodu, Agege, etc, voters expressed satisfaction with the outcome of the electoral process in their primary units.
A voter, who identified himself as John Nnadi, told National Daily that this is the best election he has ever witnessed in Lagos State. According to him, everyone at the polling unit where he voted was peaceful, there was no discrimination between any ethnic group, there was no obstruction of the process by merchants of violence. He said that people voted their conscience and made their choices without interference.
Alhaji Modupe Adeyemi also said that voters in Lagos State that shown the political elite that Nigerians can make decisions that can change the country. She said that President Buhari has put his name in history for organising the best elections in the country, noting that if the process is successfully completed and the result reflect the choice of the people, all the failures of the Buhari administration would be forgotten by Nigerians and they move into a new era of good governance.
Also, Tunde Raimi, in his contribution to the interaction told National Daily that he doesn’t care who wins the presidential election as long as Nigerians have chosen somebody they believe can change the system. He said that President Buhari has truly shown commitment to conducting free, fair, credible and transparent elections in Nigeria. Raimi commended the President for not using the powers of the federal government to manipulate the electoral process for his party. While eulogising President Buhari for being neutral in the elections, Raimi expressed optimism, and wishes that the APC candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, could win the presidential election despite the preliminary results from the polling units in Ifako Ijaye, and the Ikeja environs.
Several others who spoke to National Daily were of the view that President Buhari may be leaving office with a legacy of the most transparent elections in the country, which they said that if successfully concluded, would surpass the record of the free and fair elections of the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan.
Security operatives ensured peaceful environment for the conduct of the Saturday presidential election in the state, essentially, in Ikeja, and its environs.
There were, however, few polling units that the BVAS malfunctioned and voting was delayed into the noon hours. There were replacements where the BVAS could not be fixed by the technicians assigned to the polling units, and election held thereafter.