Guber/Assembly Polls Record 66 Violent Cases, Says INEC

The Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC), has said that there were 66 reports of violent incidents targeted at polling units, the Commission’s officials, voters and election materials during last Saturday’s governorship and Houses of Assembly elections.

The Commission disclosed that it was already investigating these incidents and would bring the culprits to justice.

The statement read in part, “The Independent National Electoral Commission conducted Governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections across the country on Saturday, April 11, 2015.

“Governorship elections were held in 29 States of the Federation, while State Assembly elections were held in 36 states. No election took place in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

“A general assessment shows that the elections went very well across the country. According to preliminary reports, 88.9 % of polling units opened for accreditation between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. across the country. “Only 5.2 % were yet to open as of 1 pm. Also, 73 % of the polling units had commenced voting by 2.30 p.m.

“The process of accreditation with Smart Card Readers was also successful in a majority of the polling units.

“Initial challenges were recorded in Edo and Abia states, but the technical teams deployed to support the states were able to resolve the issues in a timely manner.

“Overall, many parts of the country remained relatively peaceful during the elections. Some states, however, recorded a significant number of violent incidents, the most affected being Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Ebonyi and Ondo States. “INEC’s records show that there were 66 reports of violent incidents targeted at polling units, the Commission’s officials, voters and election materials.

“These were in Rivers State (16 incidents), Ondo (8), Cross River and Ebonyi (6 each), Akwa Ibom (5) Bayelsa (4), Lagos and Kaduna (3 each), Jigawa, Enugu, Ekiti and Osun (2 each), Katsina, Plateau, Kogi, Abia, Imo, Kano and Ogun (1 each).

“The Commission is investigating these incidents and will do everything within in its powers to bring culprits to justice”, it said.