The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has suspended the election in some polling units in Edo and Bayelsa States, declaring that the election would be held in Beyelsa tomorrow, while that of Edo State is postponed to two weeks.
The affected areas are 141 polling units in Yenagoa, the capital of Bayelsa State, Esan and Igueben federal constituency in Edo State, and seven polling units in Kogi East senatorial district. Two polling units were cancelled in Anyigba while the other five were in the Omala community of the state.
The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mahmood Yakubu, who revealed this stated attributed the development to the disruption of the voting process and the omission of the logo of a party on ballot papers.
Regarding the postponement of the election in Edo state, Yakubu said, “In Edo State, we had a situation that we handled yesterday (Friday), one of the parties whose acronym is on the score sheet but the logo is not on the ballot paper in a federal constituency.
“After meeting with the stakeholders, a decision was taken since the materials are intact. So, we have suspended the election for Esan North, Esan South and Igueben.
“The ballot papers will be reprinted and elections will now hold with the constituency elections in the next two weeks.”
INEC also suspended the election in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital over electoral violence and the absence of voting materials.
Yakubu said, “We have a situation in Bayelsa, particularly in the capital, Yenagoa where in four wards – Wards 4, 6, 8 and 14, involving 140 polling units in the process was disrupted.
“We remobilised security. The situation is calm for us to proceed with the process but the youth corps members expressed some apprehension about going back.
“We met with the security agencies and we have decided that voting will take place tomorrow (Sunday) morning.”
