The Saturday governorship election in Ondo State was almost marred by the late arrival of ballot papers in some polling units in Akure South Local Government Area.
Some of the voters, who became angry because of the late arrival of ballot materials, stormed the distribution centre for the area, Sacred Heart Primary School, to protest.
Our correspondent who monitored the exercise in Akure, observed that ballot papers arrived at many of the units in Ward 2 of Akure as late as 3pm.
Some ad hoc officials of INEC ran away from their units when voters were becoming aggressive over the issue.
They later made complaints to superior INEC officials.
The officials were later escorted to their units by armed policemen.
Voters who defied the scorching sun to exercise their franchise were seen at units 004, 005 and 014 sitting on the bare ground waiting for the materials as at 2:35 when out correspondent left the area.
One of the voters, Ayuba Aladejana, told our correspondent that some elderly persons and nursing mothers left after waiting for hours with no election materials.
Aladejana said, “I hope this is not a ploy to rig the election. We have been waiting here since 8:00 am. I asked my wife to go back home when the materials failed to arrive but I will wait for them here. I hope they are not trying to play games.
Even some elderly persons waited patiently.
The National Commissioner of INEC in charge of Akure, Ambassador Mohammed Wali, in an interview with journalists blamed the late arrival of ballot papers on the inexperience of the supervisory presiding officer for the area.
Wali said, “The SPO seemed to be a little bit confused. He ought to have given out the ballot papers to the presiding officers alongside other materials since morning but he chose to do otherwise.
“The people were unnecessarily delayed but we will ensure that nobody is disenfranchised. Everybody who has been accredited, will be allowed to vote since there is no closing time for voting.”
Meanwhile, the Independent National Electoral Commission on Saturday apologised for the late arrival of election materials in Akure South for the Ondo State governorship election.
In a post on Twitter, INEC said, “We apologise for the late arrival of ballot papers in Akure South Ward Two.
“We have remedied that situation and voting has commenced.”
INEC National Commissioner, Prof. Lai Olurode, said it was unfair to focus on the lapses observed in the election.
“Don’t highlight the weakness of this election. Let us look at its strengths,” he said.
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Voters protest late arrival of materials