There will be off-cycle elections today for governor in the states of Kogi, Imo, and Bayelsa.
Nigeria’s South East, South South, and North Central areas will all be voting in these elections.
The current governors of Imo and Bayelsa are running for reelection, while Kogi State will choose a new leader.
To keep their respective states in power, the All Progressives Congress (APC) will focus on Kogi and Imo, while the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will focus on Bayelsa.
Bayelsa has historically been a PDP bastion since 1999 and promptly regained power after losing it in 2019 due to a Supreme Court judgment.
The PDP’s Governor Douye Diri is being challenged by two significant candidates: the APC’s former Governor Timipre Sylva and the LP’s Udengs Eradiri.
Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State is stepping down after serving the maximum two terms allowed by law, prompting a gubernatorial election.
Candidates Murtala Yakubu Ajaka (SDP), Dino Melaye (PDP), and Leke Abejide (ADC) are running against Ododo Usman Ahmed (APC), the incumbent’s preferred candidate.
There were 17 candidates for governor in today’s election in Imo, all of them had been approved by the Independent National Electoral Commission.
Governor Uzodinma of the APC, Samuel Anyanwu of the PDP, and Athan Achonu of the Labour Party are the frontrunners.
In the meantime, MISMOB will report on the developing scenario in these states.
There were 3,619 voters in four separate polling units at Owerri City School in Ikenegbu, Ward 06: 005, 006, 007, and 008.
Two hours after INEC officials’ arrival, there were still no voters present in Unit 008.
Ododo, the APC candidate for governor of Kogi, said after voting that the election was “peaceful and orderly.”
The All Progressives Congress, APC, Kogi governorship candidate, Usman Ododo, on Saturday said the ongoing election in the State was calm and orderly.
After he had cast his ballot, he made the remark.
He spoke highly of the work being done by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.
Ododo said, “I commend INEC management for how far it’s going, and as you can see, the election is peaceful and orderly.”
The Nigeria Police Force has announced that during the election, no security personnel are to accompany VIPs to Polling Units.
The Deputy Inspector General of Police in charge of the Kogi governorship election, Habu Sani, made this announcement.
Sani warned any officer found wanting will be arrested and dealt with, according to a statement released in Lokoja by SP Williams Ovye-Aya, the state’s police public relations officer.
During the time period in which limitations on automobile mobility are in effect, no security staff assigned to VIPs, political and public officers, or any figure across the state will be permitted to move or escort their principals.
Any officer found accompanying a celebrity, public official, or other VIP to their polling place in violation of this order will be subject to arrest and disciplinary action.
Because of the potential for embarrassment, “Therefore, VIPs, political and public officers that will vote should take note of this directive.
During the election time, “the police and other security agencies will not allow any security breach,” he stated.
Yenagoa, Bayelsa, has received election materials ahead of schedule.
Materials for the election were delivered to polling places in Yenagoa ahead of schedule.
A NAN journalist in Amarata Ward 6 in the Yenagoa Local Government Area says that the day began at 7:30 a.m. with the distribution of materials to polling locations in the ward.
The ward center already had security personnel stationed at key locations.
An ad hoc member of staff named Similaye Jonah has reported that the election supplies have already been dispatched from the Registration Area Centre (RAC).
By 8:00 a.m., polling places all around the region were still waiting for their supplies to arrive.
Vehicle traffic is light and people may walk about unimpeded in the streets of Yenagoa.
In Bayelsa, voting has begun in Unit 16 of Ward 6 in the city of Yenagoa.
Voting has underway in Ward 6 Unit 16 Amarata, Yenagoa, Bayelsa state.
Voters were being instructed by members of the Independent National Electoral Commission.
Unit 39, Ward 13, Otuoke, Ogbia Constituency I is also now in the midst of the accreditation and voting processes.
The voting process has not yet begun in Lokoja City.
Many polling places in the Lokoja metropolitan area were not yet opened for voting as of 9 a.m., when polls were scheduled to open.
Officials from the Independent National Electoral Commission were nowhere in sight at the Ava Junction polling location, where security forces and voters were waiting.
Many voters were observed at the Miami polling unit in Adankolo in the Lokoja local government area, double-checking their names against the INEC list.
Many voting places in Kogi reported that INEC workers and materials arrived late.
In several areas of Kogi, INEC officials arrived late to voting places during the Off-cycle Governorship Election.
Officials and supplies were late to most areas outside of the Lokoja metropolitan area.
By 6:00 a.m. on election day, INEC said, all materials and officials would have arrived at their centers/polling units.
Similar difficulties were experienced by communities including Adankolo, Lokongoma, and Kpata.
Mr. Cornelius Stephen, a civil servant who traveled all the way from Kano to vote, was dissatisfied with INEC despite the commission’s assurances that voting materials and staff would be delivered on time to polling places in Kogi.
The elections on February 25 and March 18 were nothing like this one.
He remarked, “As you can see, it is already 7:40 a.m., and the only people here are security guards at St. Luke Primary School, Adankolo in Lokoja 1 Ward A.”
But by 8:15 a.m., the ward officials had arrived and dispersed to their respective polling places.
Abiola Choice, the PO, explained that the delay in getting materials from the RAC Centre at Crowder Memorial College in Lokoja delayed their arrival at St. Luke Primary School in Adankolo.
She said, “There was no vehicle to transport us to the voting stations after we picked up the supplies from the RAC (Registration Area Centres).
We’re trying to get the chairs in place and the voter registration lists up on the walls so that people can look up their names and find their polling locations.
Assuredly, “by God’s grace in the few minutes we shall be done with the setting for the accreditation to commence,” Choice said.
Again, in several polling places, none of the 18 represented political parties had sent representatives.
Mismob Media