Election materials arrived early at polling units in Yenagoa, the capital of Bayelsa State, as voters prepared to cast their ballots in the governorship election on Saturday.
According to reports, at the Amarata Ward 6 in Yenagoa Local Government Area (LGA), activities started at 7:30 a.m. as materials were being distributed to polling units within the ward. Security officials were already positioned at strategic points within the ward centre.
Similaye Jonah, an ad hoc staff on election duty, said the materials left the registration area centre (RAC) earlier than usual. “We left the RAC around 6:00 a.m. and we got here before 7:00 a.m. We are ready to start the accreditation and voting process as soon as we get the signal from INEC,” he said.
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At 8:00 a.m., polling units around the area were awaiting the materials to set up. Some voters were already on the queue, while others were seen discussing the election in groups.
The atmosphere around Yenagoa was calm, with light vehicular traffic as pedestrians moved about unhindered. The state government had declared Friday and Saturday as public holidays to enable residents to participate in the election.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had said that 16 political parties were contesting in the election, which is expected to be keenly contested between the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and the main opposition All Progressives Congress (APC).
The commission had also said that 1,017,613 registered voters were expected to cast their ballots in 2,242 polling units across the eight LGAs of the state.