- * Gov Sani Bello Commends Peaceful Process
By Princess Simon (Bureau Chief North Central, in Minna)
Accreditation and voting for the Presidential and National Assembly elections in parts of Niger state started peacefully, but not without hitches caused by the delayed arrival of electoral materials/INEC staff at some Polling Units (PUs) and the inability of some Electoral Officers (EOs) to operate the BVA capturing machines.
Eligible voters, particularly women were already at some PUs as early as 7am waiting for the arrival of INEC field staff and electoral materials, but had to wait until the arrival of electoral process/accreditation did not start in some areas until around 11am,
At the newly created Dutsen Kura-Gwari 1 (Limawa B) PU in Chanchaga Local Government Area (Minna metropolis), the process did not start until about 11: 30am when the Electoral Officers arrived with the electoral materials and started accreditation.
Also at the Open Space AirForce Base, though the INEC staff arrived early enough for accreditation, the inability of the EO to operate the BVA and as well slow pace of work, sorting out the list of voters almost caused breach of peace at the PU.
The election which was generally peaceful started early in the PUs across Chachanga and Bosso Local Government Areas but the difficulties created by the newly established polling units denied some eligible voters the opportunity to exercise their franchise, not being able to locate their polling units.
Some of the victims expressing their frustrations said they were not happy not being able to be part of the transition. Some of them also claimed that they got text messages from INEC a day before the election but could not do anything because the cashless regime never gave them the opportunity to sort out themselves before the election.
One of the eligible voters who gave her name simply as Ummi lamented thus, “We don't even know where to go now. People said that they got text messages telling them that they have been re-assigned to another polling unit but we did not get the text message”.
At the Kofar Shaba 1 and Chachanga Primary School PU, some of the voters could not find their names on the list of voters on display and they left for another nearby polling unit, the entire process according to another eligible voter, Oseni is rather frustrating.
Meanwhile, Governor Abubakar Sani Bello of Niger state and his wife, Dr. Amina yesterday joined millions of other Nigerians to cast his vote for the Presidential and National Assembly elections at his ‘004 Alkali Mustapha’ polling unit in his country home, Kontagora.
Governor Bello in an interview shortly after casting his vote commended the entire exercise, adding that the use of Biomodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) has made the entire process simpler.
“The BVAS is nothing to worry about. With regards to the ease of casting your votes, the entire process apart from waiting in the queues is less than two-three minutes you’re done, I think that is fine”, Bello said.
Sani Bello who is contesting for the Niger-North (Zone C) senatorial seat on the platform of the All Progressive Congress (APC) said, “I am highly impressed with the technology, I thought it would be a complicated exercise, but it appears to be a very simple exercise and straightforward”. NNL.
