Voting had yet to commence in parts of Lugbe, under the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), as at 9am on Saturday, despite the official 8am start time for the Federal Capital Territory area council elections.
A visit to some polling units in the suburb showed that election materials and officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) were yet to arrive more than an hour after voting was scheduled to begin.
At the Penthouse Polling Unit in Lugbe, only security personnel were present at 8.30am. The polling area had not been set up, and there were no visible signs of electoral officials or materials.
Voters who had expected accreditation and voting to start promptly were nowhere to be seen at the location, and the absence of INEC staff appeared to discourage early turnout.
A similar situation was observed at the polling unit located within LEA Primary School PU007, also in Lugbe. As at 9am, only two security operatives were stationed at the entrance, with no INEC officials or election materials on ground.
A few of voters who arrived early were seen waiting patiently under nearby shades, expressing uncertainty over when the process would begin.
One of the security personnel at the LEA Primary School polling unit told our correspondent that INEC officials were expected to arrive within 30 minutes.
“I was here before 8am. There were no officials, nothing,” a voter said, expressing frustration over the delay.
As at the time of filing this report, there was no official explanation from INEC regarding the delay in the commencement of voting at the affected polling units.
The FCT area council elections are being conducted across the six area councils, with residents expected to elect chairmen and councillors.
