Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, says his prayer is for the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, to win the ongoing presidential election.

El-Rufai said this while speaking to newsmen shortly after casting his vote at 024 ward 7, Ugwan Sarki, Kaduna, on Saturday.

The governor, who lamented low turnout of voters across the state, urged the residents to come out and exercise their franchise

He further condemned reported cases of the ballot and Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) snatching in some parts of the state.

Governor El-Rufai said: “We are grateful to Almighty God for bringing us to this day when all Nigerians will decide who will lead them for the next four years.

“In Kaduna State so far, as at the time I came here, everything has been going on smoothly.

“There have only been three incidents. Last night a rice mill was attacked by people suspected to be PDP thugs. The police are investigating.

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“This morning, we got report of one incident in Southern Kaduna where BVAS and ballot boxes were snatched and in Soba where two ballot boxes were also snatched.

“Of course, these are no incidents at all because whether you snatch ballot boxes or BVAS or not, it doesn’t matter, the technology has gone beyond the primitive rigging system that political actors are used to.”

He commended the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the innovations in the 2023 general election, such as BVAS, saying it has been hitch-free.

“I must commend INEC for this improvement. So far everything appears orderly across the state; all the reports we are getting are positive.

“My only concern is low voter turnout, people are not coming out to vote.

“I want to appeal to everyone to please come and vote, because you have once in four years opportunity to pick your leaders and you should take seriously.

“It is the leaders that you select today that will run the affairs of your country for the next four years.

“So, please don’t stay back at home, come out and vote. And remember any time you don’t come out to vote, you are giving opportunity to people you don’t like two more votes, because your vote will reduce the gap by one, but if you don’t come out, you are giving them by default two more votes.

“There is still time between now and 2:30 p.m. to come out and vote. I have been here on the queue for the past 45 minutes, waiting for my turn to vote.

“My wife has voted because the queue for women surprisingly this time is shorter than that of men.

“So, I am appealing to mothers to finish cooking and come out vote, because it is what you do today, that will determine the direction of your state and country for the next four years.

“But, so far, everything has been peaceful,” the governor added.

The Star