INEC extends voting in 4 Borno LGAs till night

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has extend voting in four Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Borno up until late Saturday  night to enable all voters exercise their franchise.

The Resident Electoral Commissioner in the state, Mr Samuel Madaki, announced this while addressing newsmen in Maiduguri.

Madaki, who named the LGAs as Gwoza, Bama,Ngala and Nganzai, said the extension was due to delay in the commencement of voting occasioned by late arrival of ballot papers from Abuja.

He said the ballot papers were reprinted in Abuja after it was discovered that the Labour Party logo was missing in the ones earlier printed.

“We had to reprint the ballot papers in Abuja after we discovered that the logo of Labour Party was missing.

“The ballot papers were transported through Yola airport but some areas were not covered on time,’’ Madaki said.

He said elections were held successful in all the LGAs in southern part of Borno because of the timely arrival of the papers to that area.

“We held successful elections in all the 23 LGAs due to timely arrival of the ballot papers.

“But we started late in some LGAs such as Gwoza, Bama,Ngala and Nganzai due to late arrival of ballot papers,’’ Madaki said.

According to him, incidentally, most of the residents of the LGAs are currently living in Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps in Maiduguri.

“This makes things easier for us; so, we have decided to allow all accredited voters to cast their votes by extending the voting period till late in the night.’