At the Sarkin Arewa/Muzadu 001 polling unit, accreditation of voters commenced at 8 a.m. in the morning and the card reader machines at two polling points functioned as expected, but the turnout of voters was low.
Paul Orude, Bauchi
There was low turnout of voters in the Bauchi South Senatorial bye-election held yesterday amid tight security.
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In some polling units in Dass, Tafawa Balewa and Bogoro, Sunday Sun reporter observed that screening of voters did not commence at 8 in the morning as stipulated by the electoral body.
Eligible voters formed orderly queues as they waited for the start of the screening and accreditation exercise. At the Bagel/Bajar 001 polling unit in Dass Local Government Area, the presiding officer, Odiwe Lydia, a corps member, said that the card reader malfunctioned, hence it could not identify and authenticate the voters. She said that the situation was reported to the headquarters for rectification.
At the Sarkin Arewa/Muzadu 001 polling unit, accreditation of voters commenced at 8 a.m. in the morning and the card reader machines at two polling points functioned as expected, but the turnout of voters was low.
Two of the voters at the polling unit, Sulieman Ali and Rashida Usman, who spoke with Sunday Sun attributed the low turnout to the fact that the majority of them had gone to their farms.
To ensure security of voters, there was massive deployment of soldiers and armed operatives of the National Security and Civil Defence Corps, who patrolled throughout Dass and Tafawa Balewa LGAs with their Toyota Hilux vans. At the At the Bagel/Bajar Polling Unit 001, candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Honourable Marian Garba Bagel, complained about the malfunctioning of the card-reader machines at her polling unit but said that the voters would still wait until the problem was rectified.
In a brief chat with newsmen, Bagel refuted the rumour that made the rounds that she had withdrew from the senatorial race, saying that the propaganda was the handwork of her political opponents, who were bent on reducing her popularity before the electorate in the state.
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“As you can see I came her to be accredited and cast my vote. I have not withdrawn from the race. The propaganda is the handwork of my opponents. When I heard of it on Friday, my public relations officer immediately refuted the false information.”
At some polling units in Bauchi metropolis, Iate arrival of election officials delayed the commencement of accreditation of voters scheduled for.
Only few voters were seen on the queues at the polling units visited in the state capital.
The accreditation could not still commence immediately the officials arrived the polling units as many of them were battling with their card readers which could not come up due to network failure.
The polling units visited included Mayama Judu Wado, Daniya Hardo, new state, Danyia and Bauchi club polling units but only Bauchi club started accreditation of voters. The presiding officer at New State 1 polling unit, Olamide Olajimbiti, was agitated due to the network failure. He told journalists that the officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) came late to the polling unit due to delay of collecting the electoral materials at the INEC office.
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On the low turnout of voters, an agent of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at Mayaman Judu Wada polling unit, Ndayo Bassey, attributed it to the failure of the All Progressives Congress (APC) led administration to deliver dividends of democracy to the people.
He thereby expressed optimism that the PDP candidate would win the senatorial election adding, “We believe PDP will surely bounce back to power both at the state and national level.”
Also, the APC agent at the Bauchi Club polling unit, Shama Daniel, commended the smooth conduct of the exercise.