THE late arrival of electoral officers has delayed the commencement of Saturday’s Presidential and National Assembly elections across the South-South.
In some parts of the states in the region, officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission arrived at their polling unit later than 9 am.
As at the time, voters began to arrive, some of the polling units were still locked, and some others were accessible, but no INEC official or voting material was in sight.
In Calabar state, INEC did not arrive at their polling units until 9:30
Akai Efa town hall, PU 006, WARD 6, Calabar local government area, Cross River state, INEC official was not around as of 9:33 am.
In Baise council, Ikun Etono/ ward, polling unit 10. INEC had not arrived at the polling unit as of 9:33. Election materials were also unavailable.
The same was found polling unit 17 Ward 06, Calabar LGA and Idomi ward, unit 10, Yakurr LGA.
In Bayelsa, Rivers, Edo and Delta states, voters were seen in several polling units in different area councils waiting for the officials to arrive to commence the process.
In ward 17, Southern Ijaw, in Bayelsa, voters were still awaiting INEC material at 10 am.
In Edo polling unit 72, Oredo LGA, voting did not commence until 10:05 am.
At Ward 1, unit 9, Obio/Akpor LGA, Rivers State, Voting was yet to commence at 10:10 am.
Produced in partnership with the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) with support from Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office (FCDO).
Beloved John is an investigative reporter with International Centre for Investigative Reporting.
You can reach her via: Bjohn@icirnigeria.org