Late arrival of materials delay Lagos council polls

Voting materials and electoral officers arrived late at many polling units in Lagos State during Saturday’s local government elections.

The chairmanship and councillorship elections were billed to start at 8.00 a.m. across all the polling units.

However, the elections did not start at 8.00 a.m. in many polling units monitored by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

Electoral officers and voting materials began to arrive at many polling units after 8.30 a.m.

Agege

Late arrival of electoral officers was also witnessed at the seven polling units at Agege.

The Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC) had announced that electoral materials and officers would be expected to arrive at polling units by 7.00 a.m.

A Presiding Officer at Agege, Abiola Choice, attributed her late arrival to her polling unit to late distribution of election materials.

She said, “Even after we got the materials from the registration area centre, there was no vehicle to convey us to polling units.”

Cornelius Stephen, a 90-year-old voter, who spoke with NAN in Agege, expressed disappointment that the electoral officers did not keep to time.

“You can see that it is already 8.00 a.m., yet only security personnel are present here at Agege Primary School, Ward 3,” he said.

Epe, Eredo, Ikosi-Ejinrin

At Epe, Eredo and Ikosi-Ejirin, a heavy downpour in the early hours delayed the arrival of electoral officers and materials.

It also made many voters not come out early.

The rain began at about 5.35 a.m.

Deji Agunrege, a resident of Epe, told NAN that the rain might discourage the voters, especially the elderly, and those from distant places from coming out to vote.

Okota

At 8.48 a.m., electoral officers had yet to arrive at Polling Unit 021 located at Ohafia Junction, Ago Palace Way, Okota in Oshodi/Isolo Local Council Development Area.

Some residents were seen jogging and conversing in groups, while tricycle riders continued to ply the roads.

Badagry

At Badagry, late arrival of electoral officers and election materials also characterised the elections at many polling units.

As of 8.48 a.m., electoral officials had yet to arrive at Polling Unit 020 located at Mowo Town Hall.

Festac Town

Festac Town in Amuwo Odofin Local Government Area also recorded late arrival of electoral officers and election materials.

The officers and materials had not arrived at polling units in Wards B2, C, K as at 9.15 a.m.

Emmanuel Okigwe, Secretary of the Labour Party at Ward C, told NAN that he was worried about the lateness.

“We are witnessing a lot of irregularities. Our party was unable to inspect the materials.

“Even at midnight, they still had not brought them,” he alleged.

A septuagenarian, Akindare Adetifa, also expressed disappointment at the late arrival of electoral officers.

He said that, in the past, elections always started early.

Egbe/Idimu area

Electoral officers and materials were ready at some Egbe/Idimu area as at 9.00 a.m. but there were no voters.

Some of the polling units monitored by NAN are 042 at Modupe Shitta, 04 at Yusuf Olatunji, 05 at Olojo/Holmes, 027 at Banjo, and 016 on Lamina Street, all under Egbe/Idimu Ward 5.

A mix-up in addresses of some polling units caused a delay in commencement of voting at Egbe-Agodo.

At Polling Unit 051, Oguntoyibo, an electoral officer, who did not want to be named, told NAN that his team was unable to set up voting booths because its address was incorrect.

“We are not in the right location. The address we were given belongs to another polling unit, so we couldn’t set up as expected.

“We have called our supervisor. He is coming possibly with a bus to take us to our polling unit,” he said at about 9.00 a.m.

In many other areas, voting also started at 9.00 a.m.

In Polling Units 040, 042 at Palace Way and Polling 030, 031 and 029 at Unity Nursery and Primary School, as well as Polling Units 018, 019, and 027 located at Muslim College, all in Agodo Egbe, started voting around 9.00 a.m.

Voters were seen coming one after the other to cast their votes. After voting, most of them left.

There were no signs of voting materials or arrival of electoral officers at Polling Units 030, 031, and 029 located at Unity Nursery and Primary School, Hostel Bus Stop, beside a Mobil filling station in the Egbe-Agodo area, as of 8.00 a.m.

Only an agent of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC)was seen waiting at one of the polling units.

Some voters, who came out early, left after observing no signs of commencement of elections.

At Polling Units 014 on Authority Avenue, 012 and 049, all located at Egbe-Agodo, the situation was the same.

Lagos Mainland

In Lagos Mainland Local Government Area, voters waited for election materials and electoral officers in many polling units monitored by NAN.

As at 9.25 a.m., voters were still gathered at various polling units awaiting the arrival of the officers and materials.

Accreditation and voting eventually started at 8.50 a.m. and 9.10 a.m. in some locations.

Notably, polling units 002, 005, and 007 in Ward E, as well as units 011, 015 and 004 in Ward C, experienced significant delays.

Wards F, G, and A also witnessed delayed material distribution.

They also recorded low voter turnout as at the time of filing the report.

On the other hand, there was a strong turnout at units 008 and 009 in Ward D as well as in Wards B and I.

Speaking with NAN, Olayiwola Sholagbade, a voter at Ward D, Unit 009, said: “We are still hopeful.

“ Many are indoors watching as events unfold on television and radio.”

Ikorodu

In Ikorodu, Folashade Olabanji-Oba, Vice Chairman of Ikorodu Local Government Area, praised voters for peaceful conduct.

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Mrs Olabanji-Oba, also Chairman, Association of Vice Chairmen of Nigeria, voted at Polling Unit 01 at Isele.

She urged eligible voters to come out en masse and vote.

At Polling Unit 119 at Mile 12, voting started at 8.10 a.m. while the exercise started at Polling Unit 115 at 8.25 a.m.

Voting began at Polling Unit 030 also at Mile 12 at 8.40 a.m. and took off at polling Unit 050 also at 8.51 a.m.

At Polling Unit 004, Opposite Adamson House, Ojogbe, electoral officers began arranging for voting material at 8:58 a.m.

(NAN)