Nigerians continue to share experiences about Saturday’s elections

Two days after the Presidential and National Assembly Elections, Nigerians have continued to share their experiences and express optimism that their votes will count.

Speaking to our reporter on Monday in Abuja, Dr Inya Ode said that her election experience was not so pleasant but she was happy, she was able to vote.

“I was at Polling Unit 029, Efab Estate, Lokogoma, and by the time I got there, I was number 468 because the residents of the estate had made that arrangement to make the voting process seamless.

“The election officials arrived the polling unit at about 10.30 am and voting started around 11:00 am.

“The process was quite slow because at about 4:00 pm, we were just on a little above number 100 and then the unimaginable happened.

“There was a heavy down pour. Initially I wanted to stay and make sure I vote but it became unbearable so I and so many others took shelter in very uncomfortable places.

“At this point, the voting had to be put on hold but luckily the rain subsided and voting resumed around 5:44 pm.

“I was soaked so I had to go home and change since I live on the estate. I came back and eventually voted at about 1:36 am on Sunday and remember I was number 468. Meanwhile, there were over 1,000 people at my polling unit,” she said.

Ode commended the resilience of both the election officials and particularly of the voters.

“I was really impressed because the officials wanted to leave at some point but the residence insisted that they must all vote and even provided a generator so there was light.

“Before the rain became very serious, you could hear voters chanting; “we must vote, we must vote” and I was really happy to be part of the 2023 presidential and national assembly elections.”

For Mr Adams Yakubu, SAN, the election was postponed at his polling unit and although he planned to travel the next day, he said he cancelled his trip so that he could vote.

“As at 11:00 am, election officials had not arrived my polling unit 089 at Lugbe. When they eventually arrived, there was one technical problem after another.

“So my polling unit was one of those that election continued at on Sunday and I am glad I could vote.

“I will urge the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to look seriously into the complaints emanating from this election.

“Especially people who say they were at the polling units early enough but were eventually not able to vote because the election officials closed voting due to technical issues and also election officials not being able to upload results.

“I think my greatest happiness with this election is that, at least here in Abuja, there was no voter apathy, people came out in their numbers, and I hope it was the same across the country.”

For Kosi Ugochukwu, it didn’t end with her voting because according to her, at about 10:30 pm, the election officials at polling unit 166 Wumba village said they were no longer allowing anyone to vote.

“A lot of people had not voted so they started chanting, “we must vote” but honestly at this time I was becoming very dizzy so I asked my brother to take me home,” she said.

Also speaking to our reporter, Mrs Patricia Samson said that she followed the process at her polling unit located at CITEC Villa Gate Gwarimpa until the result was uploaded.

Samson said many other voters refused to leave the polling unit after voting until the result was uploaded.

It was reported that INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, declared open the 2023 General Election National Collation Centre, on Sunday in Abuja with Ekiti being the first state to announce its result.