THE late poll opening time and the malfunctioning of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machine contributed to the delay in the voting process across Nigeria, according to the Center for Democracy and Development (CDD).

The organisation disclosed this at a Saturday press conference in Abuja.

The organisation said it deployed over 4,000 observers to polling units across the 32 states.

Voting commenced late across several polling units due to the late arrival of INEC officials.

It described the late arrival of INEC officials as an issue present in most of the polling units in the country.

CDD said its “Observer data showed the availability of one Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) device in 98.8% of polling units.

“However, there have been reports of various glitches during the accreditation process, which contributed to delays in voting in places such as Borno state.

“We have asked our observers in the field to gather more information about these issues.

“We commend Nigerians on their participation and peaceful conduct so far, although we note growing reports of voters frustrated by the speed of the voting process”.