Anambra State Governor, Chief Willie Obiano and wife, Eberechukwu Obiano, were among the first to cast their votes at Otuocha Ward 4 Polling Centre in Anambra East local government at the governorhip election on Saturday.
The Governor and his wife had no difficulty going through the voter accreditation process.
Speaking after casting his vote, Obiano urged registered voters to come out and perform their civic duties. He hailed the process, saying it was fast and easy.
The governor expressed optimism that the exercise would be free and fair across the state.
“I ask Anambra people to come out and vote. Everywhere is peaceful. Come out and vote,” he said.
Deputy Governor of Anambra state, Dr Nkem Okeke, voted in his ward in Enugwu ward.
Okeke displayed his ballot paper showing he voted for his party, APC. He debunked rumours that he has left APC.
Some of the governorship candidates, Senator Ifeanyi Ubah (YPP), Andy Uba (APC), Valentine Ozigbo (PDP) had already voted while the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) candidate, Professor Chukwuma Soludo, was having difficulty in his area.
As at 10:12 am at Unit 2, Umueze Isuofia in Aguata LGA, Professor Soludo’s place, there was a problem with the bimodal verification device as the major functions of the device, which included thumbprint recognition and facial capturing. were not working.
As of 9:56am, only one of the 717 people registered was captured and was able to vote.
Voters were becoming frustrated, saying they were already losing confidence in the process
Soludo later voted in his ward 13 after long period of waiting.
A good number of voters came out to vote but could not be accredited because of failure of device deployed by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
In some areas, hundreds of voters turned up as early as 7a.m.and none accredited to vote as at 10am due to malfunctioning device. Materials were distributed very late in some areas too.
There was heavy security on the roads leading to most villages and towns.
