‘No officials, no materials’ — Voters lament delay in commencement of Akwa Ibom LG election

By Egufe Yafugborhi & Chioma Onuegbu

UYO – PATIENT voters are waiting with no materials and officials of the Akwa Ibom State Independent Electoral Commission (AKISIEC) on location to commence Saturday’s exercise to elect new chairmen and councillors across the 31 Local Governments (LGs) in the state as of 10.21 am.

At the time of filing this update on the polls, Vanguard’s visit to some Polling Units in Uyo and Itu LGs showed no AKISIEC official had arrived as voters expressed worry.

At Unit 2, Ward 11, Ibiaku in Itu LGA,
Pastor Gideon Edidem, one of the waiting voters said, “It’s 10.05 am. AKISIEC officials and materials are still being expected. We have been assured they will come.

“No one should be surprised anyway. AKISIEC cannot be INEC. They can’t be as effective as INEC. So people are here waiting. We have no choice but to be patient.”

The situation was the same at Uyo Ward 14 Unit 1, with no election materials, and no officials at 10.21 am just as it was when Vanguard reached Community Secondary Commercial School Ibiaku Itam in Itu LGA Unit 7 Ward 11 minutes before.