Scores of registered voters who turned out to cast their votes for their preferred presidential and National Assembly candidates last Saturday were disenfranchised.
While voting went undisturbed in some areas, several polling centres across the country opened hours late and in some areas, electoral officials did not show up at all.
Violent attacks and voter intimidation also marred the polls in some areas and disenfranchised voters.
In the South East, despite the sit-at-home order by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), voters who showed up at the polls early, eager to exercise their civic responsibility, were disenfranchised due to the late arrival and absence of electoral officers as well as multiple irregularities.
Many registered voters who arrived at polling centres at Obudi Agwa in Oguta local council and Akwakuma Girl’s Secondary School in Owerri North local council in Imo State waited for INEC officials till about 4:00 p.m. before they dispersed.
Such was the situation in Idemmilli North in Anambra State, Odume Ward 1, Units 25 and 26 where the old and young trooped out in their numbers as early as 7:00 a.m. to vote but waited under the sun all day without casting their votes.
Sources who spoke to The West African Pilot News said voters returned to the polling units the next day, Sunday, February 26 hopeful that the officials would show up but were disappointed.
Speaking with our correspondent, Ejike Gift, a voter in Idemmilli North, Odume Ward 1, said, “I came down around a few minutes past 8:00 a.m. but when I came down, many people were already present, waiting for INEC officials. We waited until people started going home.
“I left and returned at night and heard that the election will now take place on Sunday. The next day, I went back to the polling unit – only a few people were present – and it was announced that INEC officials were on their way. We started writing down our names on a paper on a first come basis in preparation for the exercise but they never showed up again.”
Another voter, Ifeyinwa Lavina, said, “I was in my polling unit at 7:00 a.m. I waited till 6:00 p.m. and decided to go home because I know there is no how INEC will come by that time. I also returned the following day but still, INEC did not show up.”
Asked if the situation was a result of IPOB’s sit-at-home order, Lavina said, “No, there was no sit-at-home INEC failed to do their job. They don’t want (Peter) Obi to win, that is why.”
The West African Pilot News gathered that in many polling units in the region, voting started as late as 1:00 p.m.
Meanwhile, some registered voters were also unable to cast their votes because of the malfunctioning of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS).
In many areas, the electoral officials were also accused of not bringing result sheets alongside other electoral materials to the polling units, even as security agencies were either not seen or not enough at some voting centres.
The disenfranchisement explains the reason many people in the South East have expressed mistrust in the electoral process that produced Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the February 25 presidential election.
Suffice it to say that many people, including the large numbers of young and first-time voters in the region, were galvanised by Peter Obi, a third-party candidate.
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