Malfunctioning of Bimodal Voters Accreditation machines has disrupted voting at Ikpoba Okha Ward 7, Unit 39, Benin City, Edo State. .

The voting process, which started at about 8:00 a.m., came to a halt some minutes later and has not been restored as of 10:20 a.m.

The unit, located inside Ologboshere Primary School, has 838 registered voters.

However, voting in other units within the school is going on smoothly.

An Ad hoc INEC official at Unit 39, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said INEC had been informed about the faulty BVAs.

“We are waiting for another BVA so that the process could not be adversely affected,’’ he said.

Materials arrived at the centre before 8:00 a.m., while voting started at 8:00 a.m.

An elderly woman at the unit, Helen Osagie, who spoke on the delay, said she arrived in the unit about 7:00 a.m.

Ms Osagie commended the peaceful environment and called on INEC to replace the faulty machines on time.

“INEC should act fast to replace the faulty machines in order not to disenfranchise most of us at the polling unit,” she said.

A voter, Paul Eromosele, who voted at Ward 7 Unit 39, said the process was peaceful. 

“For now, there is peace here and everything is okay; I voted and it was not stressful and we pray the exercise ends peacefully,” he said. 

 (NAN)