Voting at Polling Unit 001, Fegge, in Onitsha South Local Government Area of Anambra State, suffered a setback on Saturday morning as the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machine malfunctioned, halting the accreditation process.
As at 9:55 a.m., no voter had been accredited and no ballot cast due to the technical failure of the device, which is critical for verifying voters’ identities before voting.
An INEC official at the scene, who declined to be named, said, “The machine stopped responding shortly after it was switched on. We have reported the issue, and we are waiting for the technical team to bring a replacement.”
The malfunction left both election officials and voters frustrated as they waited under the sun for hours. Some voters expressed concern that the delay might discourage turnout if the issue persisted.
A voter, identified simply as Mr. Okafor, said, “We have been here since morning, and nothing has started. People are already getting tired. INEC should have tested these machines properly before today.”
While the challenge lingered in Fegge, reports from other parts of Anambra indicated that voting had commenced smoothly across several polling units in other local government areas.
According to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), a total of 2,802,790 registered voters are expected to participate in the governorship election across 5,718 polling units in the state’s 21 local government areas.
The election, which spans the three senatorial districts, features 16 candidates from different political parties. Prominent contenders include Governor Chukwuma Soludo of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Nicholas Ukachukwu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Paul Chukwuma of the Young Progressives Party (YPP), George Moghalu of the Labour Party (LP), and Jude Ezenwafor of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
