VOTING has commenced in various parts of Osun State as the people of the state elect who will be the state’s chief executive for the next four years.
The ICIR reports that voters’ turnout for the exercise was quite impressive across the various polling units visited in Osogbo, the State capital. The atmosphere so far has been calm and officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) have been up and doing.
However, some issues of malfunctioning of smart card readers were reported in some of the polling stations visited by the ICIR.
At Ogidan Primary School, Osogbo, voters started arriving as early as 6am, but when the accreditation exercise commenced, the two smart card readers deployed at the polling units did not work. Some members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) who are serving as INEC ad-hoc staff were seen making calls in an effort to get personnel that could fix the card readers. As at 8:42, many of the voters had checked their names on the voter register, but no one was able to vote as the card readers were not functioning.
When the ICIR visited the polling unit at Salvation Army Primary School, Alekuwodo, Osogbo, voting had already started as at 8:30 am. All the card readers were working. It was the same situation at another polling unit at Akindeko area, Alekuwodo, Osogbo.
Security agents, including policemen and officers of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), were seen gently controlling the crowd, making sure that voters are queued up in an orderly manner.
More to come…
Here are some photos of how the election is going:
