As residents of Bayelsa State troop out to cast their votes at the ongoing governorship election today, accreditation and voting commenced simultaneously about 8:00 am, the stipulated time by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in many parts of Brass and Nembe Local Government Areas of the state.
According to election observers field report, in some parts of Yenagoa, Ogbia, Ekeremor and Kolokuma-Opokuma Local Government Areas, accreditation and voting commenced a little behind schedule, at about 9:00 am.
In Brass and Nembe LGAs, Tribune Online learnt that the atmosphere is calm and peaceful, with the presence of security personnel, as electorate crowd their various polling units to exercise their franchise in the ongoing guber poll.
At Ogbolomabiri, Nembe, INEC ad-hoc staff arrived the Registration Area Centers (RAC) centre located at Nembe National Grammar School at about 7:00 am where materials were sorted and arranged for easy distribution to the various units.
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Especially in Ward 1 Unit 1, Ward 2 Unit 1 and Ward 2 Unit 8 all in Ogbolomabiri, materials and INEC ad-hoc staff arrived about 7:45am to set up the units as prospective voters waited patiently.
Meanwhile, in Ogbia LGA, the INEC was yet to dispatch both sensitive and non-sensitive materials to the RACs in Ward 12 and 13 both located in Otuoke and Otuokpoti Communities about 9:45 am.
Speaking to Tribune Online, the RAC Manager of Ward 13, John Ebiladei and the RAC Manager of Ward 12, Festus Abulema, confirmed that materials are yet to arrive the various polling units and centres, promising that voting would soon commence.
But in Southern Ijaw, there are reports that election materials have been hijacked by unknown gunmen, while materials were said to have been destroyed by hoodlums at the RAC in Ekeremor Town.
