The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said elections in polling units faced with challenges that has hindered voting will be held tomorrow.
“[…] in PUs where accreditation was suspended to the next day in accordance with the guidelines, arrangements will be made for voters to vote tomorrow, subject to the provisions of the Electoral Act 2010,” a statement by INEC said.
Card readers at several polling units in the country had failed to work, making INEC to direct Presiding Officers to manually accredit voters upon being satisfied that the person presenting a PVC is the owner. However, accreditation has been slow in many places and has not commenced at all in others.
The electoral body said that the scale of the challenge observed has necessitated a reconsideration of the provision of the election guidelines.
Despite the challenges in some areas, the turnout was still impressive at several polling units in the country. Voters in some parts of Lagos defied the rain to vote and most did not even seek shelter as they queued to exercise their rights to vote.
With the new development, hopes of knowing Nigeria’s next leader by Monday might have been defeated as INEC now has several challenges to surmount to still ensure a free and fair election.
“The Comm [Commission] reassures the public that it will thoroughly investigate what happened while it stays committed to credible elections,” the INEC statement read.
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