By Martha Agas
Gov. Simon Lalong of Plateau and his wife Regina, cast their votes at polling unit 15, in his home town Ajikamai in Shendam Local Government Area of the state for the governorship and state assembly elections.
Lalong arrived in the polling unit at 11.50 a.m., got verified by the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) at 11 56 a.m. and voted at 11. 58 a.m.
Speaking to news men after exercising his franchise, he described Plateau people as law-abiding, saying he had not received any report of insecurity from the security agencies on the exercise.
He expressed satisfaction on the efficiency of the BVAS, saying his accreditation with his wife went smoothly and that the results would be uploaded for the public.
He encouraged Plateau people to come out en masse and vote to ensure good governance and progress of Plateau.
He said that directives would be given for markets to close until after the elections to encourage participation by the electorate.
“Today is market day in most of the places here. I am going to give some instructions to ensure all markets will be closed for people to come out and vote.
“This civic duty is very necessary and it comes once in four years,” he said.
Earlier the Presiding Officer of the unit, Mr Nanduk Ishaya, said that materials for the elections arrived in the unit early, while accreditation of voters and voting commenced at the polling unit by 9 a.m.
He said that the polling unit with 1,261 registered voters ensured that elderly people, pregnant women and people with disabilities were given priority at the voting exercise.
He added that the two BVAS machines deployed for the unit worked well saying.(NAN)