Ishola Michael
The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Bauchi State, Alhaji Mohammed Nura and the electorates have commended the peaceful conduct of the governorship and state assembly elections held in the state on Saturday.
Mohammed Nura appreciated the electorates while briefing Journalists after monitoring the electoral process in some polling units (PU) on Saturday in Bauchi metropolis.
He said that it was peaceful and that the voters conducted themselves in all the polling units visited in the Bauchi metropolis
The REC who was represented by the Deputy Director, Voter Education, Aliyu Shaba said he was satisfied with the voting process at the polling unit.
According to him, “We went round to monitor with you people. We did not witness any challenges. The BVAS are working perfectly and everything is working smoothly till the end of the exercise.”
He added that, “The voting commence in most of the places early by 8:30 am the election is peaceful; there is a large turnout of women and youths and the security presence is encouraging.”
A Voter at Sa’adu Zungur polling unit in Bauchi, Jibrin Bakinkura said that heavy security and the effectiveness of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) at polling units made the exercise easy and peaceful.
He explained that extending the election date from March 11 to March 18 provides enough time for INEC to configure the BVAS and plan better for hitch-free election.
Haruna Bala, Civil Society Organisation CSO in Bauchi, said the election was generally peaceful, free, fair and credible.
He said that their group members went round to monitor the conduct of the poll and report to us that the election was peaceful, free of rancor across the state.
Daniel Toro, Domestic Observer said the election was so far peaceful in all the polling visited in Bauchi metropolis.
He said that, “I want to appreciate the election umpire and security for their doggedness and commitment to see that voting went peacefully.”
“You can also see that many people have cast their votes and are patiently waiting for counting to begin, while others are still voting,” Toro said.
Another Voter, Miss Hashiya Saidu said the election was smooth and peaceful saying, “We came out early to vote for our candidates, we are only waiting for the counting of votes with the presence of security, nothing will destroy the process.”