Voting has officially ended but the millions of people who are in queues at polling stations nationwide can still cast their ballot.
In some places in the south of the country, voting has not even started.
INEC Boss, Mahmood Yakubu said, “No Nigerian will be disenfranchised.” He added, “Yes, we opened some polling units late. And we admitted that in some places, some polling units were opened late but the system has an automatic mechanism to recover lost time.”
“We don’t start 08:30am and close 02:30pm on the dot. If we start later than 08:30am, whoever is on the queue before 02:30pm will vote, no matter how long it takes. So, no Nigerian will be disenfranchised on that score provided he or she is at the polling unit before 02:30pm.”
Mahmood Yakubu
INEC Chief Apologizes For Voting Delays
INEC Boss, Mahmood Yakubu, apologised for delays being experienced by voters in some parts of the country.
Mahmood Yakubu briefed the press at the central collation centre in the capital, Abuja, after widespread reports of late arrival of voting materials and electoral officers in some states.
The Head of the Independent National Electoral Commission disclosed that some delays were due to advice given by the security agencies for the safety of personnel and materials.
Yakubu divulged that armed men had attacked some polling units in the southern state of Delta, where at least two voter card verification machines were stolen.
Yakubu said the stolen items were subsequently replaced and security boosted to allow voting to take place.
In the northern state of Katsina, suspected criminal gangs had attacked a voting location, snatching at least six of the voter card checking devices, known as BVAS. Three of them were recovered and the others had been replaced, the INEC boss said.
In the north-eastern state of Borno, where an Islamist insurgency has been waging for more than a decade, Yakubu confirmed that insurgents had opened fire on the electoral officers from a mountain top in the Gwoza area.
Some electoral officers were reported to be injured in the shooting, he said.
The electoral commission would continue to review the situation and provide regular updates, the INEC Boss concluded.
For the first time since 2011, Nigeria’s electoral body, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has held a presidential election without postponement.
In fact, the unprecedented feat achieved by the electoral body since 2011 was deservingly mentioned by INEC chief, Mahmood Yakubu who briefed reporters on Saturday from the West African country’s political capital city of Abuja amid the February 25 presidential and National Assembly polls.
“As Nigerians are aware, this is the first time since 2011 that a general election has not been postponed after it was scheduled,” Yakubu noted, adding that “it is part of the commission’s determination to do what is right.”
READ ALSO: Nigeria Elections 2023: Rivers Governor Unable To Vote Due To BVAS Hitches
