There was a widespread delay in the deployment of voting materials in Nigeria’s South-south compared to other geo-political regions, as voters waited patiently to cast their votes.
The 2023 general election is no doubt one of the most anticipated since the country returned to democracy in 1999.
On Saturday, Nigerian lined up as various Polling Units to vote a new president and members of the National Assembly.
The South which comprises Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Edo, and Rivers states has a total of 15,299,374 eligible voters, according to figures released earlier by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Voting was expected to commence at 8:30 am, but as of 2:37pm voting has yet to commence in Warri, Delta State, while in Eleme Rives state, INEC did not arrive until around 11am, despite assurances from the Commission that it was fully prepared to conduct the elections.
“Same story all over South-South. INEC is a huge fraud. After years of planning and billions spent, they can’t allow people vote. No BVAS, no materials. I think the INEC chairman should resign in shame,” a local resident told this newspaper.
Another voter simply identified as Opeyemi said: “Thousands of polling units in the South East and South South haven’t received election materials or even seen INEC officials at 2:47 pm. How do you explain this? How do you expect the people of these regions to believe in Nigeria?”.
The Commission is yet to officially address these challenges and the official time initially announced for votes to end is 2:30pm.
However, INEC has said that any voter on the queue before 2:30 pm would be allowed to vote even after the official closing time, assuring that no voter would be disenfranchised.