Regardless of this snag and the blight at Eda Oniyo, people should still go out to vote. We must not let the evil people among us appear to be winning; we must not give them that mileage. You must vote because a government must be in place for the state to effectively plan for its people. Ekiti electorate, please go all out today and choose your next governor. Vote your choice and make the opportunity count.

For first-time voters, make this privilege an avenue through which the state can move forward. Make it an occasion for which the state and you yourself would be proud. Do your civic duty therefore, and please yourself by voting your conscience. Make yourself proud, stand to be counted because not every eligible voter has this privilege. Do not perform this important civic duty because you were coerced to do so, but do it conscientiously because you have to. Vote the candidate of your choice, go home satisfied that you have done the right thing, while hoping that your preferred candidate wins the ballot.

The first-time voters are among those who would be swayed by the numerous contents that flood their social media handles. These young impressionable minds would see the good, the bad and the ugly trends. They would form opinions and hold views. The adults who populated institutions such as the political parties, security agencies, the electoral umpire as well as the other stakeholders in the election, must help Ekiti State and the country by behaving well and by doing well their duties, because the general election is coming in some months' time. Do not repulse the younger generation by what we do in today's election. Let's just decide to show good examples in our respective lines of duty. I'm sure that all of us are tired of all the labelling. The young people themselves would like to follow good examples. Anyone among them who chooses to do otherwise should face the consequences of such action.

For the first time in a long number of years, and in many election cycles, Ekiti will be voting in a governorship election with little or non-existent amount of tension. Let us hope that this would remain till the election is concluded and the people's choice is declared winner. The one million, fifty-nine thousand, three hundred and sixty registered voters are not all expected to troop out today. A lot must have happened to shuffle that number in a variety of ways, including those who might have decided against their own earlier decision to partake in the registration exercise. INEC said that one million, twenty-eight thousand, nine hundred and twenty-nine of the registered voters collected their permanent voter cards.

What would the turnout be like today? Shall we expect up to half a million voters to cast their ballots? Could we have more than that, say seventy percent of the total number of those who collected their PVCs? Or, am I dreaming? Ekiti can make it happen, and this would set the tone for what to expect of INEC in the general election. However, it is not sounding very encouraging that Ekiti has not recorded more than fifty percent turnout of voters since 1999, according to some data. Let's hope and pray for free and fair election in Ekiti. Let's hope for a smooth and rancour-free exercise. It can be done.