Ahead of Saturday’s national election, Nigerian officials have begun transferring secret voting materials to polling centers across the country while troops patrol possible conflict zones.
After eight years in office, Muhammadu Buhari was prohibited from running for president. However, voters are most concerned about increasing insecurity.
Less than twenty-four hours before the opening of poll stations, military forces surged into streets in northern Kano state, the commercial city of Lagos, and southern Anambra state. This states has been plagued by separatist and gang violence.
INEC officials in Awka, the state capital of Anambra, brought ballots, voting equipment, and fuel generators to polling sites under military escort.
Queen Elizabeth Ugwu, INEC Resident Commissioner in Anambra, remarked, “What you see today is a moving, fragile object.”
In the midst of a chaotic armed conflict in the Northeast, increased crime, and shortages of money, fuel, and electricity, elections are held on Saturday.
NERVES
Unsure about the outcome of the elections, Nigerians purchase food and other essentials. As the most populous country in Africa, elections were sometimes accompanied by bloodshed.
According to INEC Chairman Mahmood Yakubu, preparations are going well. However, the commissioner suspended polling in Enugu Senate district, another southeastern state. This is due to the assassination of a Labor Party candidate.
A candidate for Enugu East was killed in a coordinated attack in southern Enugu state. The driver of a competing party’s campaign van was also killed.
AD Yakubu stated that the vote on this mandate would occur on March 11, when Nigerians elect state governors.
Yakubu stating in a press conference said “The documents already submitted for the Senate election will stay blocked by the state central bank until a new election date is set”.
Yakubu, accompanied by the police head, stated that INEC is defending its electronic system against potential threats. With new voting devices, the results of polling stations are relayed electronically.
