#EkitiDecides2026: Police chief hails “unprecedented” early voter turnout

The Commissioner of Police for the Ekiti State 2026 Governorship Election, Abayomi Shogunle, has acknowledged the early voter turnout on Saturday, describing it as unprecedented.

Mr Shogunle’s remarks followed the commencement of voting across various local government areas in the South-western state during Saturday’s governorship election.

PREMIUM TIMES earlier reported that both voters and election materials arrived early on Saturday at many polling units across the state to kickstart the gubernatorial election.

In a post on X, Mr Shogunle said there was high voter turnout within the first hour of the election, noting that the development was unprecedented.

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“Accreditation and voting in the Ekiti State 2026 Governorship election commenced at 8:30 a.m. today at Polling Units across all Local Government Areas. There is a high voter turnout in the first hour of commencement – this is unprecedented.

“Our pre-voting assessment predicted this would happen,” the police chief noted, as voting continues across the 16 local government areas in the South-west state.

The latest figures from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) show that 97.1 per cent of registered voters in Ekiti State collected their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) ahead of the election, confirming their eligibility to vote.

According to INEC, out of 1,059,360 registered voters in the state, 1,028,929 collected their PVCs, leaving 30,431 uncollected.

The high number of PVC collections aligns with the police commissioner’s observation, as residents decide the next governor from 14 candidates based on INEC’s final list.