IBB shuns Niger East senatorial election •As police arrest 2 over ballot snatching

HEAVY downpour in parts of Niger State, in the early hours of Saturday, almost marred the Niger East Senatorial District  bye-election held in nine local government areas of the state following the low voter turn out witnessed in the areas that made up the senatorial district .

The rainfall, which started at about 10:am, lasted till about 12:30 in the afternoon in Minna and its environs, while many eligible voters shunned the exercise, preferring  to stay indoors in obedience to the restriction of human and vehicular movements by the state government between 8am and 3pm.

The voters were busy  attending to  their domestic chores.

 During a visit by Sunday Tribune to the premises of the Niger State Transport Authority polling unit along Bosso road, it was discovered that out of the 1,000 registered voters in the centre, less than 300 voters were being accredited to vote by the Independent Electoral Commission’s (INEC) Officials by 12noon.

 Similarly, at the Piggery poling unit at Morris Area of Minna  where the All Progressive Congress (APC) senatorial candidate, Barrister David Umaru, voted by 1: 25pm, out of the over 1, 000 registered voters, only 78 voters had  voted, by the time of  the visit. 

 The situation was however better along Shiroro road where there was an appreciable crowd at the various queues at the polling units.

 Former military President, General Ibrahim Babangida (retd), was however conspicuously absent with his household from his up hill  voting polling unit, as he was said to have traveled out of Minna.

Meanwhile, Governor Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu has praised the maturity displayed by voters in the election, just as he also commended the peaceful nature of the poll which took place in 9 local government councils that made up the zone.

  “You can see that even in the rain, people still came out to vote. This is commendable”, the governor said pointing out that, with what he saw during the election is an indications that, democracy had come to stay in Nigeria.

 Meanwhile, two people who attempted to snatch ballot boxes during  the  bye-election are now in the custody of the Police, being investigated for electoral malpractices.

Confirming the arrests of the suspects at a media briefing held at the state Police Command  Headquarters yesterday, was the Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) in charge of Operations, Mr Sontoye Thompson Wakama, said that the suspects were arrested  at  Maikujeri  Polling Unit in Tunga Barko Ward   in Raffi Local Government of the state.

“In fact, by the time the police completes its investigations into the matter the identities of the other culprits  involved in the attempted ballot boxes snatching would be released and they would all be made to face the full wrought of the law,” he said.