2023 Elections: Candidates in anxious wait as INEC begins results upload
Governorship and state Houses of Assembly candidates of the political parties, their supporters and other stakeholders are in anxious wait for the results of the polls, which were held on Saturday even as the Independent National Electoral Commission began uploading of the results on its results viewing portal.
The governorship election was held in 28 of the 36 states of the federation, while the state assemblies’ poll was conducted in all the states.
As of 10pm, a total of 77,143 results for the governorship and state House of Assembly elections had been uploaded to the iREV portal.
Opposition parties and many observers knocked INEC over its failure to immediately upload results on its portal after the February 25 presidential and National Assembly elections. The commission explained that technical glitches marred the results upload, but many dismissed the explanation.
INEC had however given assurances that the governorship and state Houses of Assembly elections would be uploaded in real time as it had rectified the issues.
Checks by Sunday PUNCH showed that some results had been uploaded in 28 states. They include Ogun State, with 3,631; Plateau, 2,765; Zamfara, 961; Yobe, 1,438; Taraba, 4,869; Sokoto, 1,310; Rivers, 4,301; Oyo, 4,907; Niger, 1,965; and Nasarawa, 2,291.
Others are Lagos, 7,375 results; Kwara, 1,838; Kebbi, 923; Katsina, 2,627; Kano, 3,951; Kaduna, 4,900; Jigawa, 2,200; Gombe, 1,322; Enugu, 3,321; Ebonyi, 2,050; Delta, 2,807; Cross River, 1,665; Borno, 2,174; Benue, 2,736; Bauchi, 2,092; Akwa Ibom, 2,641; Adamawa, 2,100; and Abia, 1,983 results.
The elections, however, recorded pockets of violence characterised by killings, intimidation of the electorate and general low turnout of eligible voters.
Three persons were reportedly killed in Delta State, six in Benue, while one each was felled in Osun and Niger states and an ad hoc staff member of the Independent National Electoral Commission was shot dead in Rivers State. Another person was burnt to death in Katsina State.
Lagos
Hoodlums invaded the Waheed Akanni Polling Unit 008 in Okota and destroyed election materials.
The INEC ad hoc staff members at the polling unit were said to have wrestled with the hoodlums and were able to retrieve the BVAS machines from them.
An Arise TV correspondent was also attacked in the Ikate Elegushi area of the state, while the camera and drone belonging to the crew were also seized. The crew were also detained before they were released.
Also, voters at some polling units in Ikosi and Ketu were attacked by suspected political thugs.
In the polling unit at the end of Owodunni Street, some thugs, who were armed with sticks, machetes and other weapons, attacked voters.
Residents, who spoke to one of our correspondents, said the thugs came in with machetes and other weapons, and caused tension in the area.
Thugs also hijacked ballot boxes at Tedi Primary School in Ojo, where about four polling units were located.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the thugs also burnt some ballot boxes and beat some voters, causing others to run for safety.
Security personnel were at the venue when the incident occurred.
The violence forced some residents of the area to close their street gates for security reasons.
Meanwhile, the state Commissioner of Police, Idowu Owohunwa, said some weapons, ballot boxes and sensitive materials snatched by suspected thugs had been recovered.
Owohunwa stated this in an interview with journalists after monitoring activities the polls.
He said some suspects were also arrested for various electoral offences in different parts of the state, stressing that there were some isolated cases during the election.
The CP said, “We made a number of arrests. We also made some recoveries in terms of INEC sensitive materials, ballot boxes and offensive weapons. The number of arrests is still being compiled by our field officers.
“I will by Sunday morning know the exact number and make it public. No one was killed in Lagos state during the gubernatorial election.”
Delta
The victims in Delta State were reportedly shot dead during an exchange of gunfire between security operatives and irate youths when suspected political thugs invaded polling units at Mosogar, Ethiope West Local Government Area of the state.
Also, a building owned by a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress at Mosogar, who is also a former Chairman of Ethiope West Local Government Area, Dr Wilson Omene, was said to have been set ablaze by thugs.
It was gathered that at Amukpe in Sapele, a youth in the area lost one of his hands during a clash that erupted in one of the polling units.
Tension also gripped Evwreni community in the Ughelli North Local Government Area of the state as political thugs invaded polling units in the area and destroyed electoral materials, including the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System machines. Consequently, voting was disrupted in most of the polling units in the community.
Three BVAS machines were smashed by the hoodlums, who also attacked some of the National Youth Service Corps members and other electoral officials attached to the polling units with some of the victims sustaining varying degrees of injury.
Benue
Six persons were feared killed and several others injured in the Gboko area of Benue State. The deceased were said to have attempted to snatch ballot boxes during the elections.
It was gathered that the deceased were shot by security operatives at different locations when they stormed the polling units to snatch ballot boxes.
An eyewitness, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said one person was killed in Abagu, two were gunned down at the NKST Primary School, Gboko South, while the other three were killed at the Hausa quarters. Punch
