Kogi guber: INEC happy over exercise as travellers obey restriction order

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said Saturday’s Kogi State governorship election was an improvement on previous exercise conducted in the North-Central state.
Mr Nick Dazang, Deputy Director of Publicity in the commission, said this in Abuja.
He said that though there were few challenges with regard to card readers’ performance in Saturday’s exercise, security, accreditation and voting processes were successful.
Dazang said that there were some minor challenges of the card readers malfunctioning but disclosed that mechanism were immediately deployed to correct them.
“There was also an incident in Dekina where a ballot box was snatched even when voting had not started.
“There was also one ward, 27, at Anyigba, where ballot and result sheets were torn, otherwise, I think the election went well,’’ he said.
Dazang said that the incidence of violence that was anticipated during the polls was not much when compared with the cases in previous elections in the state.
“In the time past we had situations where our staff were abducted, people were killed.
“There is no incident of violence at that level; we have not heard about anybody’s death or abduction.
“There is an improvement compared to previous elections in the state which is considered to be volatile,’’ he said.
Dazang added that efficiency of the card reader was above average on Saturday as the uses of incident form were negligible.
“There was one particular area in Dekina where our officials were not proficient in the use of card reader and we are investigating what happened.
“Otherwise, I think generally, the election went on well; we have technical teams in all the 239 wards and in all the wards, we have ICT staff moved in to troubleshoot any experienced challenges.’’
He said that the claimed of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Gov. Idris Wada that the card reads were not working and that there were inadequate incidence forms at polling units did not correspond with real situation.
“I don’t think what he said tallies with what we have seen and what we have monitored.
‘’The card reader was much successful; the incidences where we have that failure were very few,’’ he said.
The deputy director added that in all the cases where there was card reader failure, there were sufficient incident forms.
In the area were ballot box was snatched before the commencement of the election, Dazang said the snatcher wasted his time as it would not affect the election.
“In any case, even if there were ballot papers and he snatched them, the ballot papers cannot be counted when returned.’’
He expressed satisfaction over the election process and said: “our mission is to always improve on what we have done before and there was improvement in terms of elections held in Kogi state for over time.
“The state is noted for volatility and violence but that violence did not take place. Of course, there were few challenges but not the kind of violence we anticipated.’’
He added that the improvement was a mark of rigorous voter education carried out by INEC and other stakeholders as well as the appreciation of the efforts by voters.
“I think that people have seen the need to do the right thing,’’ he said.
Meanwhile, the Transition Monitoring Group (TMG) Quick Count said that 75 per cent of the polling units in the Kogi Governorship election had witnessed early arrival of election officials and materials.
This is contained in a report issued to newsmen in Lokoja on Saturday by the group’s Media Manager, Mr Armsfree Ajanaku.
It said that INEC personnel and materials arrived 75 per cent of the polling units across the state by 7:30 a.m.
The report said that accreditation of voters also started at 9 a.m.in about 92 per cent of the total number of polling units visited by its observers.
According to the report, there is 97 per cent security presence across the polling units, adding that the APC and PDP agents record 95 per cent presence at the polling units.
Meanwhile, voting in the election has been concluded in many polling units across the state earlier than 6 p.m.
Counting of votes in Mopamuro, Yagba-East and Yagba-West polling units have also been concluded early.
At Kabba area of the state, voting and counting were concluded early in Ayewa, Odolu, Otu and Ayeteju/Kajola wards as early as 4:45 p.m.
During the election, travellers complied with Police order, restricting vehicular movement in and out of the state.
Highways linking the state with other parts of the country, including the ever-busy Abuja-Lokoja-Okene Expressway, were deserted.
The Inspector-General of Police, Solomon Arase, on Wednesday directed that no vehicle would be allowed in and out of Kogi between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. during the governorship election on Saturday.
He charged police formations in the state and neighbouring states to enforce the order strictly.
Accreditation for the polls started on time, with materials and electoral officials available, and the card reader functioning in polling units across the state.
The exercise was peaceful, with impressive turnout of voters, including the aged and physically-challenged, and voting commenced in Lokoja and most parts of at about 1 p.m.
At Kabba, political party agents said that the process was peaceful and free.
According to Mr Femi Ige, PDP agent in one of the units in the city, when voting commenced in this unit, everything was in order.
His Labour Party counterpart, Mr Yemi Olorunmo, said he was satisfied with the arrangements.