looking at the report today 141 polling places in Bayelsa State, the Independent National Electoral Commission has shifted voting to Sunday.
This information was provided on Saturday during the second leg of the situation report on the presidential and National Assembly elections of 2023 by INEC Chairman Prof. Mahmood Yakubu.
Thugs allegedly disrupted the voting process, and security agencies were later strengthened, according to Yakubu. However, fear among the National Youth Service Corps members in charge of those polling places caused the postponement.
The Chairman in Imo state noted that voting was also hampered in some polling places in seven Local Government Areas by thuggery and insecurity.
Again three Local Government Areas in Edo had postponed their elections until March 11. This happened because of a party whose name appears on the results sheet but not on the ballot.
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Yakubu also claimed that thugs had taken more Bimodal Voter Authentication Systems.
“Unfortunately, we still lose some of the BVAS,” he said. I informed someone about the missing devices in the morning. Though we have recovered, we regrettably also lost three BVAS in Ayemelu, Anambra
In Bayelsa State, there were 141 polling places spread across four wards (Wards 4, 6, 8, and 14), mostly in the capital.
The procedure was hampered. The corps members expressed some trepidation about returning, so we met with the security agencies and decided that voting in these 141 polling places where all the materials are intact will take place tomorrow morning. We re-mobilized security to continue with the process.
However, the effort will be made to conduct the election to end the process, but keep in mind that we are not only conducting the presidential election but also the senatorial and federal constituencies.
We have an agreement to hold the election tomorrow in these places.
ConclusionÂ
Nevertheless, in many polling units, voting is closed and sorting and counting have started between now and the last briefing and proactive step by meeting with the Inspector General of Police, the national security adviser, and the commandant of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, the idea is to strengthen security as we move into the next stage of the process, which is a collation of results in locations where voting has taken place.
As they develop, we have been responding to some of the situations. And we’ll carry it out at night. This is an update on the previously mentioned situation since the Coalition center will open tomorrow at noon.
