Lagos: Polling units, elections materials destroyed at Oshodi, Elegushi
Suspected political thugs on Saturday attacked multiple polling units within the volatile Oshodi area of Lagos State.
Voting in the presidential and National Assembly polls was going on at most of the locations when the assailants invaded.
A video of the incident at Ogun Oloko Street near Oja Mafoluku in Oshodi and another at PU EC 30 B, among others, are circulating.
The thugs, in their numbers, were armed with guns and machetes, residents cried out.
They moved about in buses and motorcycles, destroyed polling units, burnt ballot papers and took away some boxes.
There were similar cases in the Ikate Elegushi area.
Journalist and podcaster, Joey Akan narrated his ordeal on Twitter.
“Thugs have destroyed ballot boxes and threw away the ballot papers at Oba Elegushi.
“I collected a couple of slaps for fighting back before I got pulled from the melee, into a house for my safety.
“Now I have to be smuggled out of the voting area because I have been marked,” Akan tweeted.
EFCC election monitoring teams attacked in Abuja, Imo
Election monitoring teams of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, were attacked on Saturday in Abuja and Imo State.
The officers were targeted by political thugs near the chief’s palace in Bwari Area of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT.
The attack followed the arrest of a man for allegedly orchestrating a vote-buying procedure at the polling unit at Science Primary School, Bwari.
EFCC spokesperson Wilson Uwujaren said operatives arrested a middle-aged man and retrieved a list of beneficiaries he already paid some money, through a banking app.
It was while transporting him away from the polling unit that the thugs smashed the windshield of an official vehicle.
They retreated after security personnel fired warning shots, before members of the Joint Task Force, comprising the Department of State Services, DSS, and the police arrived at the scene.
In Imo, officers on election monitoring duty at Unit 001, Mann Primary School, behind Chorobim Junction were shot at by unknown persons.
The attackers who were inside two black Prado SUVs and one white Hilux outside the polling unit were suspected to be involved in vote buying.
The EFCC team returned shots forcing the assailants to flee. The incident was subsequently reported to DCP Operations, Haruna Femi, at the Imo State Police Command.
2023 Elections Lagos Violence: Several Arrests Have Been Made, Say Police
The Commissioner of Police in Lagos State, Idowu Owohunwa, has disclosed that several arrests have been made regarding electoral violence recorded in some parts of the state on Saturday.
The Commissioner made the disclosure on Saturday while speaking with journalists on the conduct of the presidential and National Assembly elections in the state.
“I can confirm that several arrests have been made but at this moment it is still an ongoing process. So, I cannot conclusively say this is the number of polling units violence was recorded, but at the end of the day we will do a post-election evaluation and come up with specifics,” CP Owohunwa said.
However, the Lagos police chief said the instances of violence were isolated, noting that the polls were mostly peaceful in the state.
“It was an admixture of very peaceful conduct in most parts, but we also recorded isolated instances of thuggery. Like I said earlier, we anticipated them and we have multiple teams to respond in the fastest manner.
“We were able to stabilize the situation and rescue the INEC officials,” he added.
Signature Tv had reported that thugs disrupted voting process in Elegushi, Ikate area of Lekki and other parts of Lagos on Saturday.
According to an eyewitness, thugs scattered materials set up by Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) officials.
Tinubu Wins In Osinbajo’s Polling Unit
The presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu has won at the polling unit of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo in the Ikenne area of Ogun State.
At Osinbajo’s polling unit in Ojurege Ward 1, polling unit 14, Tinubu scored 33 votes, Peter Obi of the Labour Party polled 9 votes, while Abubakar Atiku of Peoples Democratic Party, polled 7 votes.
Sixty voters out of the 110 registered voters at the polling unit participated in the election which had 8 voided votes.
Nigeria Decides: Obi defeats Atiku, Tinubu inside Aso Rock
Presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, on Saturday won in one of the polling units inside the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
The polling unit, PU 131, is located opposite Pilot Gate, State House, Abuja.
After the voting process, Obi garnered 17 votes while Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress, (APC) polled six votes.
Atiku Abubakar, former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) secured three votes.
The Labour Party also won the National Assembly elections at the polling unit.
High Voter Turn Out, peaceful election in Port Harcourt
Despite reported incidents of violence in the run-up to Saturday’s presidential election, the exercise has been peaceful in most areas of port Harcourt, the Rivers state capital.
SignatureTV reporter in the city said voters turned out in their numbers to cast their ballot.
Some of the voters complained about the slow process which made voters remain in the queue for a long time.
Despite the reported massive deployment of security personnel in Rivers State, no security officials were seen at the polling units.
The voting exercise has been relatively smooth and peaceful.
Nigeria Decides: Governor Ugwuanyi votes
Enugu State Governor, Rt. Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi has cast his vote in the ongoing presidential and National Assembly election.
The Governor voted at about 10.30 am in his Amube Ward 2, Orba, in Udenu Local Government Area of the State.
Ugwuanyi is the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, candidate for Enugu North Senatorial District.
El-Rufai Votes, Decries Low Turnout Across Kaduna
Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai on Saturday cast his vote at the Ungwan Sariki Polling Unit in the Kaduna North Local Government Area.
Speaking to journalists after voting, El-Rufai decried the low turnout of voters in many polling units across Kaduna.
Warning that voter apathy could affect the electorate from electing credible leaders who will lead them for the next four years, the governor called on all eligible voters to come out and exercise their franchise.
El-Rufai also commended the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the new improvement in the electoral process.
“I must commend INEC for this improvement. So far, everything happened orderly across the state. All the reports we are getting are positive. My only concern is low voter turnout, people are not coming out to vote,” the governor said.
“I want to use this opportunity to appeal to everyone to please come out. You have once in every four years an opportunity to pick your leaders and you should take it seriously. Please don’t stay at home, come out and vote.”
He however disclosed that there was a reported incident of ballot box snatching by some political thugs at a polling unit in the southern part of Kaduna State
El-Rufai added, “Last night, the Rice Mill was attacked by people suspected to be PDP thugs. Police is investigating. This morning, we got a report of one incident in Southern Kaduna where BVAS, ballot boxes were snatched and in Zuba where there was another incident of two ballot boxes being snatched.
“Of course, these are no incidents at all. Whether you snatch ballot boxes or BVAS or not, it doesn’t matter these days. The technology has gone beyond the primitive rigging system that political actors are used to.”
Gov Abiodun votes, says APC agents not given INEC tags
Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State voted around 11:30 am at Unit 03, Ward 04, Ikenne Local Government Area of Ogun State.
The governor said the election was peaceful, describing the turnout as impressive.
However, Abiodun said there are few glitches which centered around party agents’ identification tags.
According to him, some agents of his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) had complained that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has not given them their identification tags.
Abiodun said he could not confirm if other political parties also have similar complaints.
He expressed optimism that the next election would record some improvements.
Nigeria Decides: Voters stranded over non-availability of election materials in Imo LGA
2023 Elections: Wike Disappointed As BVAS Fails To Accredit Him, Wife
Rivers State Governor, Nysome Wike has expressed disappointment with the functionality of the Biomodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machine deployed by the Independent National Electoral Commission to his polling unit.
Wike arrived at his polling unit 7 in Ward 9 in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area with his wife, Justice Suzzette Eberechi Wike at about 10:30 am.
However, the BVAS could not accredit the Governor ad his wife who were the first voters at the pilling unit.
After over 20 minutes of unsuccessful tries, a female electoral official appealed to the first family members to check back.
She said technicians will be set to rectify the fault. She did the difficulty was also being experienced in other parts of Rivers State.
Assessing the exercise after a long wait, Wike described the process as a failure.
He said he is disappointed with the functionality of the machine at his polling unit.
The governor also expressed the fear that the failure of the machine could mar the election.
2023 Elections: Peter Obi Votes In Anambra
The Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, Peter Obi has cast his vote at polling unit 19 in the Agulu area of the Aniocha Local Government Area of Anambra State in Nigeria’s South-East geopolitical zone.
Obi and his wife Margaret cast their vote around 11:45am on Saturday after following the voting queue for about 30 minutes.
Addressing reporters after he voted, Obi said the process was “seamless”.
The LP flag bearer is one of the leading candidates in the race for Aso Rock. The former Anambra governor’s major contenders include Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Rabiu Kwankwaso of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP).
Already, Tinubu and Atiku have voted in Lagos and Adamawa respectively.
Accreditation and voting have commenced in many polling units across Nigeria as the 87.2 million voters with Permanent Voter Cards go to the polls to elect a new president and members of the country’s National Assembly.
Officials of the country’s electoral agency, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) are on ground at the 176,606 polling units scattered across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory that make up Nigeria.
INEC officials, late at some polling centers nationwide
As of 9.20 am, INEC officials are yet to arrive at Galadimawa primary school voting center in the Nigerian capital, Abuja. The turnout of voters is said to be the highest since the return to democracy in 1999.
However the large crowd is getting restive the same way the turnout of voters in Ndigbo Uvuru, in Aboh Mbaise in Imo state, is reported to be overwhelming.
As at the time of this report, community leaders are helping INEC officials to move voting materials from the local government headquarters, a distance of over 20km to the voting centers while the voters wait patiently.