By Nsan Ndoma-Neji, Calabar
Cross River State Governor Ben Ayade has expressed concern over the late arrival of electoral materials to his polling unit in his Ipong ward, Obudu Local Government Area of Cross River State in the ongoing presidential and National Assembly elections.
Ayade raised the concern as he reacted to the late arrival of materials to enable the electorate cast their votes in an interactive session with journalists.
The state governor, who cast his vote at about 2:pm at polling unit 033, Ipong Ward, Obudu, in Cross River North senatorial district of the state, decried that his people were at the prospect of being disenfranchised due to late arrival of election materials.
Ayade said, “Well I am surprised that the time is already gone past 2 o’clock and I have just cast my vote at about 2:08.pm. We didn’t have materials until 1:pm and when the materials did arrive, there were no INEC staff available to attend to voters.
“Worryingly, according to INEC, its Rack Technology System, Rack Tech, is switched off at a certain time in Abuja, what is the possibility that my people will not be disenfranchised. This is a heavily populated area and some people are already getting tired and itching to leave out of frustration.”
Ayade who is seeking to occupy the senatorial seat to represent the people of Cross River North senatorial district at the upper chamber of the National Assembly stated that “as a governor and one who is also running for the Senate, if I could not vote until it was eight minutes past two, it’s also a big worry for me.
“Beyond that, I have equally received calls from other polling units expressing concern about the late arrival and non-availability of INEC staff.
“What this seems to suggest is that there’s a deliberate manipulation to ensure that the votes from Obudu are lowered, occasioned by the machines either not working or being shut down. This indeed, is disturbing, to say the least.”
In a bid to ensure that voters are not disenfranchised the state governor said, “I hope INEC will allow every single person who has come here to vote to do so without being institutionally disenfranchised.”
