By; IBRAHIM ADAMU, Kaduna
Early arrival of election officials and materials made timely commencement possible of governorship and state assembly elections in Kakuri and Makera suburbs located in Kaduna Industrial Area.
Our correspondent who monitored elections in the area reported that most polling units opened for voters as early as 8.30am with some officials assuming their duty posts even before eight in the morning.
At Unit 011 located at Queen Amina College for example election proper commenced at 8:16 with accreditation of voters via the BVAS system which captured effectively as expected.
An INEC supervisor who preferred to speak on anonymity disclosed that the readiness of the election umpire in the conduct of 2023 governorship and state assembly election would supercede all previous ones, adding that major hitches and shortcomings had been noted and measures put in place to avoid repeat of the past bitter experience.
“You can see for yourself how effective, peaceful and orderly the conduct of election is going on here.
“This underscores the preparedness and readiness of INEC to ensure the conduct of internationally acceptable exercise whose credibility cannot be questioned by all actors.
“National Chairman of INEC has vowed to rid the commission of any adhoc or permanent staff whose actions in presidential and National Assembly elections have been found to be embarrassing and unbecoming.
“The result of that resolve by the chief electoral umpire is what you’re seeing here today,” he declared.
There were however low voter turnouts in most polling units visited located in major areas within the community and Nasarawa.
Our correspondent observed sporadic voting queues as early as 11am at some polling units while others became completely empty of any voters as at 12pm.
Units 028, 029, 074 and 030 were classic examples where no single voter was seen by our correspondent as of 12.04pm when this report was filed in.
An official of INEC who pleaded for anonymity attributed the sad development to disinterest by the electorates, majority of whom he noted had become increasingly impatient with poor performance of elected officials.
A voter Musa Isa cornered by our reporter just after casting his vote lamented the seeming lack of transparency by INEC to live up to expectations as promised.
“For example the umpire has pledged several times to electronically upload and transmit results via its server but to no avail.
“This action by INEC I believe should be blamed for voter apathy as being experienced in this exercise.
“Most of my neighbors said they won’t come out to vote today, saying what they voted for was not reflected in the last election.
“Some argued that their votes won’t matter nor count because they believe winners have already been determined as usual in previous elections,”he stated.
There was an intraparty friction at unit 0.51 located at Kanfage Street, Makera amongst agents of People’s Democratic Party(PDP) who took opposing sides for and against candidates of their party vying for state assembly seat to represent the constituency.
Trouble began, according to an eye witness who simply identified himself as Yusuf Ali when some sympathizers of a particular candidate swooped on the venue of the election chanting support slogans of a particular party instead of the party (PDP) whose tags they beared.
Ali added that an attempt by some PDP agents to resist the action of their supposed comrades turned to fracas with some brandishing machetes.
“It took the timely intervention of a combined team of the Army, the Police and Civil Defence operatives to bring the situation under control.
“Security operatives arrived the scene and dispersed troublemakers whose action would have possibly led to cancellation of this polling booth and probably loss of life,” he explained.
