Smart card reader has rejected the thumb print of Gov. Seriake Dickson of
Bayelsa, amidst reports of delays in arrival of election materials in some
parts of the state.
Dickson was however allowed to vote at Ward 2 unit 5 in Orerewari, Toru
Orua, Sagbama Local Government Area at about 10.35 am after several
unsuccessful trials on the card reader.
The governor was allowed to vote after his Permanent Voter Card (PVC) was
read manually and his name, signature and phone number were documented.
Speaking after voting, Dickson noted that the failure of the smart card to
read his thumb print was not new as it had occurred in the 2015 elections.
He said that despite earlier complaints to the Independent National
Electoral Commission (INEC) the glitches with the card reader had
persisted.
The governor expressed concerns over the reported cases of electoral
violence in Nembe Basambri, Southern Ijaw and Ekeremor areas of the state.
In Sagbama Local Government Area, there was low turn-out of voters in most
of the pooling units visited by a correspondent of News Agency of Nigeria
(NAN) correspondent.
A voter, Ebidebuomo Juliet, however, said that she was satisfied with the
conduct of the polls in Sagbama area.
Voting commenced two hours late in some areas in Yenagoa metropolis while
in Ogbia Local Government Area, elections began as scheduled with
impressive turn-out of voters.