In protest over the non-conduct of elections in a majority of the council, around 100 people, including voters, party agents, politicians, and supporters, have gathered at the INEC secretariat in the Warri South Local Government Area of Delta State.
Dr. Michael Tidi, the head of the council, and representatives from the parties have just had a meeting with Kingsley Ogboe, the electoral officer, to discuss how to carry out the exercise in areas where elections were not held.
Ogboe has not yet granted the press an audience.
The INEC office is still processing and distributing documents, though.
The Nation learned that the absence of Supervisory Polling Officers (SPOs), trucks to transport sorted materials to the impacted areas, and result sheets for some polling units are posing challenges to the workers.
When approached by some ad-hoc staff on how to proceed to the polling units, an official seen manning the door of the EO said staff is only to return to units with complete or uncompromised result sheets.
Some ad-hoc staff was heard reporting that some of the SPOs have refused to go back to the field.
It was further gathered that materials got to the polling centers late yesterday because of an alleged directive by the Electoral Officer.
An INEC official who spoke in confidence disclosed that “we were all here waiting. We slept here so that we can leave early. But we were told that the EO directed that we wait. It was around 12 noon to 1p.m that we were dispatched”.
However, it was gathered that at Wards 1, 3, 7, 8, 11, and 12 there will be partial conduct of elections, while polls will hold fully at Wards 4 and 9.
