By Emmanuel Oloniruha
Some party agents, voters and observers have commended the peaceful voting process and seemless Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) deployed for Saturday’s governorship election in Bayelsa.
They gave the commendation in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Yenagoa.
NAN reports that the respondents agreed that the election was largely smooth and peaceful across Yenagoa Local Government area.
According to them, there has been no report of any incident of malfunctioning BVAS.
At PU 28, Yenikien 3/Okaka Junction, Epie III Ward, Yenagoa, the Presiding Officer, Chidera Okoye said that the voting process commenced some minutes after 9a.m.
Okoye added that the BVAS deployed to the Polling Unit (PU) was working perfectly.
Also, the party agents for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Jollyman Etizeta and that of Africa Democratic Congress (ADC), Cleanse Kinika, described the election as peaceful.
Mr Ambrose Kwokor, a Civil Servant, who voted at the PU also said that the election was going on peacefully.
“The election has been going on smoothly. There was no cause for alarm as the election so far. The BVAS is also working well,” Kwokor said.
He called on the people to remain peaceful during and after the election.
At PU 011, Yenada Market Square, Epie III Ward, Yenagoa with 822 registered voters, the polling process was observed to be peaceful and orderly.
Mrs Sarah Godfrey, a 60-year-old civil servant, after casting her vote, commended INEC for making special arrangements for elderly persons to vote without hassle.
Godfrey, who recently had a surgery, said that she came out to vote for the future of her children.
“I had surgical operation, but I could not sit down at home without voting. I am doing this because I believe it will be the turn of my children tomorrow,” Godfrey said.
However, an 86-year-old woman, Mrs Mercy Okodo, who came to the polling unit could not find her name.
Okodo expressed disappointment that her name was missing in spite of voting at the same polling unit in the past.
“I’m surprised to be told that my name is not on the voters list, it’s very disappointing,” the octogenarian said.
At PU 10 at Fanghe Primary School, Epie III Ward, Yenagoa LGA, which has 750 registered voters, Mr Andrew Asaba, a businessman, expressed pleasure with the orderly conduct of voters.
Asaba commended INEC for the good arrangements, saying “I arrived at 10.25a.m and was able to vote at 11.30a.m”.
He urged all stakeholders to remain peaceful for the good and development of the state.
At PU 017, Isiogu Town Square, PU 015, Fakulu Primary school (East) and PU 014, Fankulubo Hall, all in Epie lll Ward, the election was also going on peaceful and orderly.
The presiding officer at PU 015, Mrs Daniel Gold, said the voting process was peaceful and the crowd management was orderly.
“We do not have any issue with voters’ accreditation. Our BVAS is working perfectly,” she added.
Also, at PU 016 Fakulu Primary School (West), Epie lll Ward, with 750 registered voters; PU 019, Fankuku Health Centre, Epie III Ward; and PU 018, Ogriga Town Hall, Epie III Ward, there were no complaints about the election process.
The Presiding Officer for Ogriga Town Hall, Epie III Ward, Miss Benedicta Uche said no incident regarding BVAS was recorded.
At PU 17, Domingo Ogriga, an Assistant PDP agent, and Mr James Monday of Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), said that the process had been peaceful and no issue with BVAS.
Also at PU 10, Agric Meeting Hall, Attissa 1, Yenagoa, the Presiding Officer, Ezeoke Chinozo said that the BVAS was working properly.
An observer with the Institute of Peace and Conflict Resolution, Dr Dankogi Mohammed, said so far, the election has been relatively peaceful in places he monitored.
Dankogi also said that the BVAS have been effective in all the polling units he visited.(NAN)
