Nigeria Election 2023: Voter turn out massive
Nigerians today turned out in their numbers to cast their vote to elect a new president in what has been described as peaceful as of the close of voting on Saturday.
Advertisement
Observers, both international and local described the polls as generally smooth despite some dotted cases of delays, minor disruptions and cases on irregularities.
Most of the 176, 974 polling stations across the country opened and closed on time, within the stipulated six-hour voting time but in some areas where setting up and voting delayed, officials made sure that they waited to make room for the time.
At the Bwary Central pulling unit in Abuja, the Daily Graphic witnessed that 11 polling units had been set up for the exercise.
Just like many other areas in the country, names of eligible voters were displayed on the walls for voters to check and know the exact place they were supposed to vote.
In all 7,800 eligible voters were expected to vote at that venue which was the biggest in the area.
As voting progressed, there were pockets of voters who couldn’t find their names and had to move from one unit to the other with the hope of exercising their franchise.
At some units due to the delays in starting due to malfunctioning of the BVAS their time was extended to 3:30pm while those who joined the queue before the close of the poll were also allowed to vote thus extending the time to 4pm.
Unlike Ghana where a voter can still vote without a voter ID card, in Nigeria without a Voter ID card you cannot vote.
Photos of the presidential candidates were not displayed on the ballot paper but their party symbols or logos were on the ballot paper.
It was however different with the Senate and house of representatives as pictures of candidates were on the ballot paper.
Mary Mensah in ABUJA, NIGERIA. Courtesy of FBN Bank