Bauchi rerun election: REC, voters says exercise says is peaceful, successful

From.Ahmad SAKA, Bauchi

 The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Resident Electoral Commissioner Alhaji Mohammed Nura, and many voters has explained that the by-election conducted at four state assembly constituencies successful and peaceful

The electoral body  conducted the rerun in 42 Polling Units in three Local government areas of Bauchi, Ningi and Katagum,”

” 10 polling units in Bauchi Central, 12 polling units in Zungur/Galambi, 10 polling units in Madara/Chinade, and 10 polling units in Ningi Central.”

While monitoring the exercise REC Nura said so far the exercise has been peaceful in all 42 polling units, saying, “there was no issue malfunctioning of election machines, materials and missing names of voters.

He commended the voters for  conducting themselves and coming out in large turnout to cast their votes peacefully.

“We are encouraged with the large turn out of the voters, we don’t expect that number but it still went well.

“Because of the large turnout we are compelled to inform security agencies to deploy more personnel for crowd control.

“We are in fact satisfied with the  zeal of the voters coming to cast their votes accordingly,” he said

The REC advised political parties to play by the rules and shun ballot snatching, vote buying, and thuggery among others.

He also cautioned voters against distracting counting and announcement of results, urging them to stay 10-15 meters away from the center and wait after voting.

Our reporter who monitored the election process at the Tudun Wada 1 and Kofar Fada Polling Units in the Madara/Chinade state Constituency of Bauchi State in the rerun election, eligible voters began arriving for accreditation as early as 8:00am. Many of the prospective voters came out to vote, despite the harsh harmattan weather in order to show their patriotism to the candidates of their choice.

The voters were seen at the polling units early enough for accreditation and voting in order to elect their preferred candidate from among the contestants. There was also heavy presence of combined security personnel in virtually every place visited along with INEC officials and the ICPC who were on ground monitoring the process. It was also observed that some commercial motorcyclists and transporters were plying the roads, doing their normal business.

At the Tudun Wada polling unit, an agent of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Suleiman Samaila Chinade told Journalists that the rerun was going on smoothly and people were voting for candidates of their choice. His All Progressives Congress, APC, counterpart, Abdulkadir Abari described the exercise as peaceful and orderly even much better than the general elections. The presiding officer for the Polling Unit in Tudun Wda 1 declined to speak to Journalists A female voter, Rahman Aliyu said that the BVAS did not give her any issue and she voted smoothly.

At the Kofar Fada polling unit in Bulkachuwa, voters were seen on the queue waiting for their turn to be accredited and vote. Some of them who spoke with Journalists expressed satisfaction with the process saying that it was less stressful than what transpiree during the last general elections. Abubakar Musa, one of the voters expressed hope that this time around, their votes will count and the winner will emerge.

It will be recalled that Dr Nasiru Ala of the PDP was declared winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the 2023 State Assembly election to represent the Constituency. His declaration by INEC was however challenged by his opponent, Ali Dan Iya of the APC at the Tribunal and the Appeal Court. The Appeal Court ordered a rerun for 10 Polling Units Madara/Chinade State Constituency in order to have a clear winner.

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