Buhari may have promised us free and fair elections, but what we’ve witnessed since the polls started yesterday has been anything but fair. On top of intimidation and violence, while most are done voting, some have not voted at all. Zikoko Citizen got some updates from a polling unit in Rivers state where an election didn’t happen.
The turnout at the unit was interesting, with some voters getting there early enough
This happened at a polling unit in Ward 14, Obio/Akpor LGA. People were eager to vote, with some first-time voters getting there as early as 8:30 a.m. to cast their votes.
But it seemed INEC didn’t get the memo
Everyone was there but the INEC officials. This happened in many other polling units nationwide, where people had to wait for the INEC officials to show up.
Two officials later came and said they had no clue there was a polling unit there at all
Two INEC officials eventually showed up and said they weren’t aware that there was even a polling unit . They said they’ll inform their office and ensure that the assigned agents get there.
Two hours later…crickets
Two hours passed, and there was still no sign of INEC or any voting materials at the polling unit. A concerned voter called INEC’s helpline to report the situation at the polling unit and was told they’ll receive the officials soon.
The materials finally came, but someone forgot to bring the result sheets
At 3:16 p.m., an INEC official finally showed up, curiously conveyed in a vehicle with PDP agents. But what made things even more suspicious was when the voters were told that all the materials were now available, except that they conveniently forgot to bring the result sheets. The official wanted to leave to get them, but they held him down.
At 5:16 p.m., election still hadn’t commenced
Someone called INEC again; this time, they were hostile and dismissive to the caller. The officials on site wanted to start accreditation without the results sheets, but the people said, “No way”.
After being tired and frustrated the whole day, people left, and no vote was cast at the polling unit
As it turned out, there were other polling units where voting also didn’t happen
These polling units had voters, but they didn’t have the votes. There are many polling units where people have been disenfranchised across the country, and INEC needs to cancel whatever results come from these places and carry out a rerun.
Do you have a similar case in your polling unit? Talk to Zikoko Citizen by joining Citizen Situation Room on Whatsapp. You can also follow the election results live on our portal as INEC is collating them.
