Reporters in the area spoke with a few people who were pleased with the change.
A local named Alhaji Ibrahim Haruna remarked, "We witnessed massive turnout of voters in Kogi Central as residents trooped out in their numbers to cast their votes in the much-anticipated off-cycle election."
He said that Ebira natives in particular had started to show up in large numbers in Okene and other local government areas of the state as early as Wednesday in order to guarantee what they called a complete delivery of votes for Alhaji Usman Ododo, the APC's candidate for governor. Ododo was the only candidate from the zone running for the position.
various of the people contacted at various polling places with enormous crowds described how local sons and daughters pooled their money to rent opulent buses so that voters could return home to cast their ballots.
Speaking about the enormous turnout in Kogi Central, Mr. Yakubu Jimoh, an independent observer, said he walked around and personally observed that the people there adored the departing governor and were prepared to independently demonstrate this by casting their votes.
"People were being fed by households as if it were a celebration, and there was harmony all around. Voting proceeded without incident, despite the large number of military personnel present. There was a huge crowd, he claimed.
"In many polling places, it resembled zonal rallies." Voters lined up as early as 7:30 a.m. to cast their ballots. There has never been such a large turnout. Violence has always been there in Central in the past, according to Kogi NUJ Chairman Mr. Adeiza Momojimoh.
Mr. Adanna Amaechi, another observer who was in Igalamela, claimed that poor voter turnout resulted from threats of violence, particularly from opposition parties who intimidated people against voting for other tribes.
Even those who claimed to have PVCs chose to avoid us where we were. People were afraid to vote because of past violent incidents in the area and the Social Democratic Party's (SDP) particular campaign strategy, the speaker claimed.
How could you expect your guys to show up while disseminating false information that they are preparing a murderous attack? We forewarned them at the time that they would try to influence us with this manner. They believed that we disapproved of SDP," one Igala Agenda backer who wished to remain anonymous claimed.