Voting ends abruptly in Wike’s polling unit

Voting ended abruptly at Ward 9, Unit 7, the polling unit of the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of the state on Saturday.

Wike cast his vote at about 12.40pm after the initial failure of the BVAS machine.

Speaking to newsmen, Wike expressed dismay over the poor performance of the BVAS machine that kept him waiting for nearly an hour and called on the Independent National Electoral Commission to extend the voting time.

Wike said the associated slow performance of the BIVAS was evidence of the poor level of preparation on the part of INEC.

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The governor and his wife, Justice Suzzette Nyesom-Wike, had returned two hours after they were initially unable to cast their vote due to the failure of BIVAS to accredit them.

Wike said despite the promise of fixing the identified problem that delayed voting at the polling unit, INEC seemed still not in full control to ensure the BIVAS machine operates maximally.

Meanwhile, voting continued till about 5pm when a group of unidentified men dressed in black arrived at the polling unit and soon afterward, INEC officials and ad hoc staff accompanied by policemen carried the voting materials into the vehicles.

While some voters were still in the queue, one of the men in black asked them to come to the council to cast their vote as it was getting dark, and immediately the vehicles zoomed off.

When our correspondents visited the Obio/Akpor Local Government headquarters, they were asked to go to the INEC office.

When contacted on the state of results from the governor’s polling unit, the State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Johnson Alalibo, said he was yet to hear from his officials on the ground there.

“I am yet to receive any report from my field officers,” he said.

The police Public Relations Officer in the state, Grace Iringe-Koko, said she was aware of the development.

Also, efforts to reach the Public Relations Officer of INEC in Rivers State, Geraldine Ekelemu, proved abortive. She neither answered several calls put across to her mobile phone nor replied to a text message sent to her as of the time of filing this report on Saturday night.