Voters Apathy, Snatching of Materials Mars Elections in Rivers

Low turn out of voters, snatching of election materials and failure of card readers characterized the governorship and Houses of Assembly elections in Rivers state.

At ward 4, unit 15 in Elele Town, Ikwerre LGA of Rivers state, a sizable number of voters, including the Secretary General of Ohaeze Ndi Igbo, Barr Uche Okwukwu were disenfranchised due to the inability of the card readers to identify their Permanent Voters Cards (PVC).

Okwukwu told our Correspondent on election monitoring in the area shortly after his refusal to vote that, “it is unfortunate that many voters in his unit were disenfranchised due to the card reader to identify our PVC,” pointing out that it is against the electoral act which recommends the use of incidence forms in the event of failure of the card reader.

Citing the case of Gov Nyesom Wike in 2015 governorship election, he said, “the Supreme Court in the case of Gov Wike in 2015 didn’t recognize the use of card readers in elections in line with the electoral act.”

The Presiding Officer at the unit who refused to disclose his names informed the Daily Times that only about 95 voters have been accredited as at 10:30am and that election materials arrived the unit on time.

The governorship candidate of the Labour Party in the state, Chief Isaac Wonwu expressed satisfaction at the conduct of the election, saying that he was impressed with the turn out of voters in his unit.

“Well, I’m impressed so far, at least in my unit. But at end of the day, we’ll be able to judge if the elections across the state was free, fair and credible,” he told newsmen shortly after voting in his unit.

He had earlier advocated for the use of digital voting as obtained in other climes because it would save cost and time and all the ills rigging and snatching of election materials would be a thing of the past.

At Isiokpo, headquarters of Ikwerre LGA, the newly appointed Executive Director Administration and Finance of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Mr Oyirinda Amadi was alleged to have snatched election materials from some voting units in the area.

Journalists witnessed how his attempt to snatch materials at the voting unit in St Paul’s Primary School in Isiokpo was thwarted by vigilant voters who locked the gate and prevented him from carrying out his mission.

Security operatives attached to his convoy were reported to have released some gunshots to scare the voters to enable them snatch the materials. The gunshots also prevented newsmen from hearing his own side of the allegations as stern looking security men turned them away at his residence.

Reports from other parts of the state indicate that violence, late arrival and snatching of materials rocked the election in the state.

A day before the elections and on Friday evening, reports had it that a former Caretaker Committee Chairman of Andoni LGA, Mrs Emilia Gilbert Nte and current Special Adviser to Gov Wike was gunned down in what appears as a reprisal attack.

During the presidential and national assembly elections, Pastor Monwan Etete Owoh, a former two terms chairman of Andoni LGA and a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress was also killed and his corpse yet to be seen.