The late distribution of electoral materials and arrival of officials at the polling units marred the conduct of Saturday’s Local Government Elections in Abia.

Journalists monitoring the exercise reports that the Abia State Independent Electoral Commission (ABSIEC) did not distribute materials to the polling units as at 11 am against the 7a.m. slated by the commission.

According to the commission, eletoral materials were scheduled to arrive at the polling units at 7a.m., while accreditation and voting would commence by 8 a.m.

At Umuahia South, Osisioma, Aba North and Aba South LGAs, neither the electoral materials nor election officials were seen at some of the polling units visited.

Some ad hoc staff were seen milling around the LG Headquarters waiting for election materials.

There was also low turnout of voters at the various polling units visited across the state.

Prospective voters who were scanty in number, were seen at some of the polling units waiting for  materials and voting to commence.

In Umuahia South, Aba North, South and Osisioma LGAs, voters, election officials and security personnel were conspicuously absent at the polling units visited.

Some of the polling units visited included Polling Units 009, 015 at Avonipupe Primary School and Ipupe Village Hall Polling Unit 008.

Others were Polling Units 011 and  012 at Ogbo Central School as well  as Polling Units 007, 013 and 017 located at the Umuosu Community School.

In an interview journalists, prospective voters in Ubakala, near Umuahia, expressed disappointment over the failure by the Abia State Independent Electoral Commission to ensure the smooth conduct of the polls.

Joy Eze said that she had been monitoring her polling unit to know when the elections would eventually start.

Ms Eze, who operates a hairdressing salon, however, said that she decided to go and attend to her customers while waiting for the exercise to commence.

She also said that she was eager to cast her vote in order to support her preferred chairmanship and councillorship candidates.

Another resident, Onyinyechi Ishmael, said that she was not interested in the polls because her previous experience showed that votes do not count in elections in the country.

“If our votes count like the leaders claim, I believe there will be signs that election will actually take place.

“Unfortunately, there is no sign that elections will take place at the various polling units around my neighbourhood,” Mr Ishmael said.

In Aba, Collins Ogbonna, resident of Ward 3, said that he came out by 8 a.m. to his polling unit 007 to vote but did not see any election officials.

Mr Ogbonna attributed the poor voter turnout to “voter apathy and fear of gunmen” in Aba.

He called on the residents to come out and vote to ensure the right persons assumed political leaderships at the grassroots.

The deputy chairmanship candidate for Zenith Labour Party in Osisioma LGA, Rufus Aguwa, told journalists that the eletoral materials had been brought to the council headquarters for the polls.

Aguwa further said that the representatives of other parties inspected and confirmed the materials to be complete.

He, however, said that the materials had yet to be shared “because the LGA, which has about 301 polling units, is complex.”

Meanwhile, the commissioner for voter education and enlightenment in ABSIEC, Dr Kelechukwu Okere, has described the report of absence of materials at the polling units as “pure falsehood”.

Mr Okere said that the commission made adequate arrangements for the seamless distribution of materials and election officials to ensure a smooth exercise.  

(NAN)