Officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) have attributed their late arrival at the LEA Primary School polling unit in Waru to delays in the distribution of election materials at the collection centre.
The officials arrived at the polling unit at about 10:10am, hours after voters had gathered at the venue.
As of the time of filing this report, they were still setting up for accreditation and voting.
The development follows earlier reports by BusinessDay that voters had been on ground since 7am awaiting the commencement of the exercise.
Some residents had expressed frustration over the delay, noting that no election official was present as the clock ticked close to 10am.
Read also: Voters lament absence of INEC officials at Waru
Speaking with BusinessDay, Daniel Christopher, the Presiding Officer, insisted that the delay was not intentional but caused by logistical challenges at the collection point.
“It’s not our fault that we got here late. We were waiting for materials; our materials didn’t come in time,” he said.
“We have been at the collection centre since yesterday. We slept there. We haven’t even had breakfast because we wanted to get here in time.
“Some of our materials didn’t come in time and we couldn’t leave without them.”
As of the time of filing this report, voting had yet to commence at the LEA Primary School polling unit in Waru, as officials were still making arrangements to begin the exercise.
