Nigeria Content Online

The National
Assembly election started in most parts of Kaduna by 8.30am but the
exercise was marred by low turnout of voters in some polling units in
Kaduna North and Chikun Local Government Areas.

At Camp Road
polling unit, Kabala Doki ward, where Vice President Namadi Sambo, and
his wife, Amina, voted at about 2.20pm, only 469 of the 1,148 people
that registered at the polling unit were accredited.

A voter, Aisha Audu
told NEXT that the reason for the low turnout was that some people who
registered at the polling centre were not from the ward while some of
them were unable to return to the polling unit to cast their votes
after accreditation.

However, many
voters at many polling stations visited complained of the delay in the
accreditation procedure. They called on the Independent National
Electoral Commission (INEC) to adopt the method where voters would be
accredited and vote at the same time.

“Accrediting people and asking them to go home and come back later to vote is very cumbersome and time consuming.

“Most of the voters
could not cast their votes because they couldn’t withstand the scourge
of the sun. Some of them are old to stand up for too long, so they
left,” said another voter, Ahmed Uba.

At some polling
units at Sabo Tasha, in Chikun Lcal Government Area, voters reported
that the absence of INEC officials and voting materials prevented them
from exercising their civic rights.

One of them, Alice
Usman who is a member of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) said
as at 1pm that they were yet to see the officials.

“The situation is
deliberate because you can see that where the PDP has strong hold,
materials are supplied massively in those places. But you can notice
scarcity of election materials in places they know they will lose.”

Too many to handle

At Unugwar Sunday
in Sabo Tasha, it was observed that most of the polling units had over
2,000 registered voters. The same was witnessed in Barnawa and Narayi
areas, both in Chikun Council. But accreditation and voting were done
simultaneously in some other areas in Sabo-Tasha and Ungugwar Romi
where materials arrived late.

However, there was
orderly conduct of voters and security agents in most of the polling
stations as well as heavy presence of security personnel who were
stationed at strategic points in the state.

There was complaint of under aged people who voted in some polling
units in Tudun-wada and Rigassa areas in Kaduna North Local Government
Area despite the presence of the Police and other security agents. An
ANPP agent said that most of those who cast their vote were not up to
18 years, threatening that his party was going to file a petition to
INEC to that effect.