The Independent National Election Commission (INEC) has rescheduled voting for today at 10 polling units in Victoria Garden City (VGC), Lagos, following disagreements over the relocation of the polling units.
Voting has also been rescheduled for today in Butura Ward in the Bokkos Local Government Area of Plateau State, as well as in the Asari-Toru Local Government Area (LGA) and parts of the Degema LGA in Rivers State.
The commission had moved the 10 voting units to locations outside the VGC gate instead of their originally designated locations.
Resident Election Commissioner in the State, Mr. Olusegun Agbaje, told reporters after speaking to residents that the vote would take place between 8:30 am and 2:30 pm today.
He said residents had previously been informed of the relocation of voting units to locations outside the VGC gate following an alleged hostage-taking by INEC officials during the February 25 presidential and National Assembly elections.
He said: “We had a problem during the February 25 presidential and National Assembly elections when our ad-hoc staff of corps members claimed they were being held hostage until around 4am on February 26.
“Most of them hesitated to come here today.
“Accordingly, we sent a message to the leaders of the state to inform them that today’s elections would be held on their doorstep.
“We mobilized and our officials were here before 8 am, but state leaders claimed that non-resident thugs could disrupt the process outside the gate. So they didn’t feel safe.”
Agbaje added that statistics show that VGC has eight voting units in the VGC Park and another two outside the park, all designated by INEC.
He also said that the statistics show that there were 6,024 registered voters in the city, of which 5,624 collected their Permanent Voter Credential.
“When we got here, we saw a different situation where it was even difficult for security officers to contain.
“I had to inform the national headquarters of the INEC about the situation and it was agreed that we would mobilize here tomorrow at 8:30 in the morning to hold the election.
“We are still appealing to corps members to come out on Sunday. But if they don’t come, we will mobilize our regular staff because they will be free after today’s exercise,” Agbaje said.
In Plateau state, INEC rescheduled voting in Butura district in the Bokkos local government area of Plateau state for today due to a logistics issue.
The state’s INEC Resident Election Commissioner, Dr. Oliver Agundu, told reporters that election materials, such as ballot papers intended for the district, were taken to another LGA by mistake.
He said that in order not to disenfranchise community members, the election in the area would now take place on Sunday, March 19.
He regretted the inconvenience caused by the delay and the eventual change of the election.
He urged members of the community to come out in numbers to exercise their franchise.
In the case of Rivers State, the rescheduled vote will take place in the Asari-Toru Local Government Area (LGA) and parts of the Degema LGA.
Rivers State Resident Election Commissioner Dr. Johnson Sinikiem said no elections were held yesterday in the affected locations “as a result of voter resistance to the deployment of election officials and materials to the governorate and state.”
And he added: “Election of the House of Assembly. Voters and other interested parties demanded to see the precinct check officials before allowing the election to begin.
“In the 14th district of Degema LGA, the voters also demanded that the SPO must go to the RAC with the collation sheet that is the responsibility of the collation officers, therefore not allowing the election to be held.
“On this premise and based on section 24 of the Election Law of 2022, INEC has decided to hold the election of Asari-Toru Local Government Area and Degema Local Government Area District 14 on March 19. of 2023”.
