Many voters in the ongoing FCT election in Abaji Area Council have alleged omission of their names from the displayed voter register, just as this has generated crisis in Durumi
Some of the voters told NAN that the development was as ‘very discouraging’.
one of the voters, Hajia Shittu Ramat, said “I have gone round different polling units with the little strength in me, considering the fact that I am fasting, but couldn’t find my name on the displayed voter register. This is very unfortunate.
“INEC should be sending our registration codes and polling centre numbers to us via SMS ahead of elections, going forward, to make things easier for voters.”
Another voter, Hajia Musa Aisha, said the situation was stressful and very discouraging.
Male and female voters were seen standing in different queues in accordance with Islamic doctrine, as they waited to cast their votes after accreditation.
Commercial motorcycle riders, popularly known as Okada were also seen around polling units dropping and picking voters.
Meanwhile, some voters at Durumi II, Polling Unit 022, have alleged that Thier names were omitted on the accredited voters’ register during Saturday FCT Area Council Election.
Election at the polling unit which began at about 10:00 a.m and experienced impressive voters turnout in Durumi, caused frustration among voters whose names, particularly those beginning with the letters “E”, “C”, “H” and “I”, were not found on the accreditation list.
A voter, Emmanuel Chidi, alleged that the situation was suspicious, hence the avoidable chaos at the unit.
“I registered here and my details should have appeared on the accredited list,” he said.
Another voter, Margret Chidi, expressed dissatisfaction with the omission, questioning why the list was not properly displayed.
“It wasn’t pasted there, they said I should go and meet the presiding officers to check from their own list and I said no, why didn’t they paste it. I will not vote unless it’s pasted there,” she said.
Responding to the complaints, Assistant Presiding Officer, Abraham Ayimolu, described the development as an omission and assured voters that steps were being taken to address it.
“It’s not a problem, we will improvise by using our own master list to check their names; once their polling unit is here, we will find it in our own list.
“We have also called the head office, we told them about the situation,” Ayimolu said.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), which is overseeing voting in 2,822 polling units across the six Area Councils are expected to fix the issue at the Durumi 11 polling unit 022.
