Ogun LG polls: Low turnout, bad signal for democracy – PDP’s Olumide Jones

By Musa Baba Adamu

The low turnout recorded during Saturday’s local government elections in Ogun State has continued to generate reactions from stakeholders in the state.
A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Olumide Jones, has described voter apathy across the councils as a bad signal for democracy.
Jones, in an interview, expressed worry that the people of Ogun State were not interested in choosing who would govern them at the grassroots level.
This, he said, could be attributed to the failure of those elected into power to ensure the people enjoy the dividends of democracy.
He noted that the low turnout of voters alluded to the fact that people have lost faith in the APC led Government in Ogun state, saying it is also a bad sign for the nation’s nascent democracy.
“It is a bad sign when people are no longer interested in how they are governed, because of the way the leaders are ruling the masses.
“People are not happy again. They can’t even speak their mind. They don’t have faith in the government again because of the way things are in the land.
“Also, the result from various polling units attested to the fact that people didn’t come out to vote because they are fed up and the government has failed,” Jones said.
The former senatorial candidate, however, said “We will continue to encourage our people to just patiently wait to vote for a party that will bring true and positive change to Ogun state and the nation come 2023.”
He spoke further that, “there is hunger in the land. Nothing seems to be working right since 2015. Economic and security situations have become determined to have the worst record in the history of the country.