Emir of Dass, Alhaji Usman Bilyaminu

Emir of Dass, Alhaji Usman Bilyaminu on Saturday urged voters in the Local Government Area to conduct themselves peacefully in the ongoing Dass state constituency bye-election.

Bilyaminu made the call shortly after he had cast his vote at the Barde Kofar Sarkin Dass polling unit.

The emir, who described the process as “very smooth”, expressed satisfaction with the way officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) conducted themselves, citing their punctuality.

“My advice to the electorate is that we should all conduct ourselves peacefully and do our best.

“The exercise has been very smooth and the officials of INEC have come out early to the polling unit and you can see that I have also cast my vote without any problem,” he said.

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A NAN correspondent covering the election reports that the exercise has been peaceful as voting began at about 9:15 a.m.

There was a heavy presence of security personnel in strategic locations in the area.

Speaking, Mr Saleh Abubakar, the Presiding Officer (PO) of Kwara/Mbak government social warfare polling unit, said the exercise had been peaceful, as voters were carrying out the business of the day calmly.

Atiku Kalgo, the presiding officer of Barde Kofar Sarkin Dass polling unit said that the heavy presence of security personnel at the polling unit had given him a lot of confidence.

He said the polling unit had not experienced any form of challenge.

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However, Bashir Zakaria, a voter at Sarkin Arewa Wazadu Primary School polling unit, said although the exercise had been peaceful, the process was slow there because only one ballot box was provided for more than a thousand voters.

The Dass House of Assembly seat became vacant following the assassination of its former occupant, Musa Baraza, then a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Baraza was on Aug. 14 murdered by unknown assailants at his country home, Baraza, in Dass Local Government Area.

Some suspects have been arrested while the police say an investigation into the murder is ongoing.