Hitches blight accreditation in Abuja
There were hitches at various polling units in Abuja suburbs as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) officers and non sensitive materials did not arrive until 9a.m. The development caused accreditation of voters to commence at 10 a.m. in some centres. Also, many residents said they were not properly enlightened on where to vote as many […]
There were hitches at various polling units in Abuja suburbs as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) officers and non sensitive materials did not arrive until 9a.m. The development caused accreditation of voters to commence at 10 a.m. in some centres.
Also, many residents said they were not properly enlightened on where to vote as many went to where they had registered only to be sent to other polling units.
Kunle Afolayan resides in Karu and said he trekked to LEA Primary school, where he had registered but he was told to go to Jikwoyi.
He said restriction of movement made such trip difficult, but added ‘‘I am determined to vote, I don’t care where they send me to”.
INEC officials did not arrive any of the polling units visited by Daily Trust by 8 a.m. as planned despite some of the residents saying they had been at the centres since 4.30a.m.
In Nyanya, Karu and Jikwoyi, Daily Trust observed that the last vehicle conveying non sensitive materials and ad hoc staff from the registration area centres did not arrive until about 9.30 a.m.
As at 9 a.m. the materials were still at the LEA Primary School Karu, due to lack of vehicles.
An assistant polling officer, who did not want his name in print, said ad hoc staff slept at the school and have been up since 2a.m. sorting the materials to be distributed.
Jimoh Sehidu, a voter at the polling unit 020 in Karu said he does not mind waiting as long he would be allowed to vote.
Aside polling unit 013, CBN Junction Karu, in which one of the Smart Card Readers was not functional, all other centres appeared orderly, with the card readers working and personnel on ground.
Also, there were heavy security personnel including officers from the Nigeria Police, Nigeria Customs Service, Federal Road Safety Corps at every polling centres.
None of the security personnel at the polling units were armed though there are armed security operatives at various strategic locations in the city centre.
An INEC officer at LEA Karu, Oyegade Adeleke supervising the distribution of the electoral materials however said accreditation of voters started by 8 a.m. across all the polling units in the area.
She said there were no hitches and that the process was going on smoothly.