Voting has started at Dino Melaye’s polling unit in Ijumu LGA

An official of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) assigned to Melaye’s polling unit at Iluafon quarters, Aiyetoro 1, Ijumu Local Government Area, confirmed to ThePunch that voting started in the area at 8:30 am.

Melaye is from Kogi West, a region that has never produced a governor since the creation of Kogi State in 1991.

According to INEC data, the fate of the governorship candidates in Kogi State would be determined by 1,833,160 voters who collected their PVCs out of the 1,932,654 registered voters in the state.

Also, 18 governorship candidates are in the race to succeed the incumbent governor, even though analysts believe the contest is largely between Melaye and Usman Ododo of the All Progressive Congress (APC) and Leke Abejide of the African Democratic Party.

Ododo is the anointed candidate of the current governor of the state. 

Accreditation and voting have also commenced at some polling units in Lokoja, the capital of the state. 

INEC officials reportedly arrived at polling unit 059, located at the Open Space by Ava Hotel at 8:35 am.

Officials have also arrived at Nasfat Nursery and Primary School, Lokogoma in Lokoja Local Government Area of the state to conduct the election.

The ad-hoc staff at one of the polling units in the area arrived as early as 7:28 am, ThePunch reports.