REC raises the alarm, says ‘ballot papers for Niger East, North missing’

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Niger State, on Friday, said that elections for the senatorial positions of Niger East and Niger North may not hold on Saturday as the ballot papers meant for the zone were missing.
Prof. Samuel Egwu, Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in the state, made the declaration while interacting with newsmen in Minna.
“The issue has been reported to the INEC’s Headquarters in Abuja for urgent attention.
“The officials of the Central Bank of Nigeria saddled with the responsibility of securing the electoral sensitive materials have gone  to Abuja for the last batch of the sensitive materials for  Saturday’s elections in the state, so we are waiting,’’ he said.
Egwu said that 85 per cent of the needed facilities for the conduct of free and fare elections in the state had been provided with the non sensitive materials already moved to various destinations across the 25 local government areas of the state.
He said that the commission trained 23,000 ad hoc staff for the elections in the state.
The REC also said that 2,181,400 eligible voters would participate during the general elections in the state.