Jigawa council polls: Low turn-out of voters as opposition boycott elections

The Council polls in Jigawa on Saturday recorded low turnout of voters in most parts of the state, just as election officials in some voting units failed to turn up with voting materials as at 9am when voting was expected to commence.
Correspondents of News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) who went round Dutse metropolis and some nearby local government areas, report that voting was yet to commence as at 9 am as scheduled.
At Takur ‘A’ and Takur ‘B’ polling units , very few voters turned up for accreditation, while in some wards of Miga and Suletankarkar Local Government areas, sensitive voting materials were still being expected.
Turnout was also very poor in those local government areas, just as reports from other areas of the state indicated similar situation.
NAN also reports that in all the voting units visited, only representatives of the ruling APC were on ground, while other parties failed to turn-up.

Alhaji Adamau Ibrahim, Presiding Officer in charge of Fada ward ‘A’ in Dutse metropolis, confirmed that opposition parties had boycotted the election as only APC representatives were on ground.
According to him, they have decided to opt out of the polls because of the court order stopping the conduct of the elections.
Meanwhile, the State Governor, Alhaji Mohammed Badaru casted his vote at exactly 9.53 am in his Arewa Primary School polling unit of Babura Local Government area.
Fielding questions from newsmen shortly after casting his vote, the governor said he was not aware of any court order stopping the conduct of the elections, and therefore urged the people to come out and vote.
NAN recalled that on June 12, Justice Sabiu Yahuza of the Federal High Court, Dutse, issued an order stopping the conduct of the polls, pending the determination of a case on the election.
The Makarfi faction of the PDP had filed a case before the court, alleging that the names of their contestant were not featured by Jigawa State Independent Electoral Commission (JSIEC).
Police Public Relations Officer in charge of Jigawa Command, Abdu Jinjiri, told NAN that adequate security measures had been put in place to ensure peaceful conduct of the election.
He said no fewer than 10,000 had been deployed across the state to check any attempt at breach of the peace.



 NAN

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