Updates on Supplementary Election

The country, yet again presented another ugly spectacle to the world as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), yesterday, conducted supplementary elections for governorship and House of Assembly polls in some states.
Consistent with the 2019 general elections, violence, low voter turnout, underage voting, destruction of ballot papers, maiming of voters, as well as accusations and counter-accusation between the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) featured unabated, especially in Kano, and Benue states.

The governorship elections of March 9 were declared inconclusive in Benue, Adamawa, Sokoto, Bauchi, Kano, and Plateau states, while INEC suspended electoral processes in Rivers State.

Yesterday’s supplementary governorship and House of Assembly elections held in 618 polling units spread across 96 local council in the affected four states, and a total of 250,000 registered voters were expected to cast their ballots in the polls, which recorded its fair share of violence and malpractice. The supplementary for Adamawa has been put on hold due to court intervention.

A picture of bedlam was painted in Kano State, where violence was recorded in different locations.

The thugs freely chased many residents, who turned out to vote away from the polling units, while fully armed security operatives turned blind eye.

In Benue, violence also reared its ugly head. The election was to be held in 204 polling units in 22 local councils with about 121,299 votes at stake.

Elections were, however, suspended in Azendeshi ward of the state, where over 13, 000 voters were to vote, but could not because of the attack and destruction of election materials by suspected thugs.

The attack, which took place along Zaki Biam in Ukum Local Council, after the thugs intercepted the election materials and set them ablaze, left some security operatives, INEC officials and party agents injured.

Elsewhere in the state, Gwer-West, Otukpo and Okpokwu council areas observed that electoral materials arrived polling units as early as 7.30, while accreditation of voters and actual voting started at 8am.

At Polling Unit 008 in Okungaga, Ugbokolo Council ward of Okpokwu Local Council, voters were seen undergoing accreditation and voting started at 8:40am without hitches, while other voters cast their votes peacefully.

Senator-elect for Benue South Senatorial District and PDP supervising agent for Okpokwu Local Council Comrade Abbah Moro, told journalists, that the election was going on peacefully and people were making their choices.

Senator Moro who stated that the people of Benue state took the governorship rerun very seriously, added that, “it is even better to witness a level of apathy and get the right result without anybody losing his life than to have a mammoth crowd, which could record rancour, violence and deaths.

SUPPLEMENTARY elections also held in Lagos State, yesterday at Ibeju-Lekki State Constituency I. Accreditation and voting commenced at 8 am at Polling Units 001, 003, 004, 005, and 006 of Ward 01, Ibeju Registration Area, as INEC officials and materials arrived the polling units before 8 am.

Officers and men of the Nigeria Police, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) were on hand to provide security in all the polling units, even though voter turn out was initially poor.

Erinle Kazeem, the Baale of Okegun Odofin in Ibeju-Lekki, , who spoke to newsmen expressed optimism that the peaceful atmosphere of the poll would continue till the last ballot was cast.

The monarch who cast his vote at about 10 am at polling until 001 of Ward 01, however, decried the short notice for the supplementary election, adding that many youths and residents of the area had left for the Lagos metropolis for different engagements.