BY: News Peddlers
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| Election in Port Harcourt |
Voter turnout was low in Saturday's House of Representatives supplemental election in Rivers' Port Harcourt Federal Constituency.
Elections started at 8:30 a.m. in units 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 of Ward 5 (Port Harcourt Township), however as of 11:26 a.m., few voters had turned up to cast their ballots.
The same ward's polling units 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, and 88 likewise encountered a similar scenario when voters trickled in.
The police and members of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) were present at the voting places, therefore the election environment was calm and organised.
At 10:40 a.m., Unit 44 Ward 5's presiding officer, James Ar-Ibibbia, reported that no one had cast a ballot in the unit, which is located across from the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) office complex.
Voting started in Unit 1 around 8:30 a.m., according to Jesse Kio, the unit's presiding officer, although very few people had cast ballots.
Some voters ascribed the low turnout to concerns about the elections' transparency.
Micha Kalio, a PDP representative in Unit 3 Ward 5, attributed a portion of the poor turnout to the results of the elections held on February 25 and March 18.
The majority of state residents don't even know that the election is taking place today, he continued.
Because of the alleged lack of transparency by INEC during the governor's race, some opposition parties in the state, including the All Progressives Party (APC), boycotted the special elections.
Voting box snatching and other electoral violence characterised previous Rivers elections.
(NAN)