Low voter turnout governorship, assembly polls in Borno

Low voter turnout has characterized governorship and House of Assembly elections in Borno State.

Worse than what was obtained during the February 25 presidential and National Assembly elections, the majority of voters in the metropolis of the two local governments that make up the state capital, Maiduguri, did not vote.

Borno State has more than 2.4 million registered voters, according to the INEC voter register, but many were absent from the polling booths on election day.

PREMIUM TIMES correspondents who monitored the elections in Maiduguri and Jere regions, observed a smaller turnout in most of the polling units.

One polling unit, Zanna Ibrahim Gujuba 001, has accredited only 57 people who voted around 12:22 pm. The polling unit has a total of 689 registered voters.

In Voting Unit 002 of the Government Building, there are 1,251 registered voters, but only 244 people went out to vote.

In the NUJ Voting Unit, where there are 1,330 registered voters, only 168 voters came out to vote.

At the time of filing this report, counting of votes is still underway in many polling units. The exercise has dragged into the dark hours of the day except in some polling units.

Cases of electoral fraud have been reported across the country where allegations of ballot stuffing have been made.

The opposition PDP last week claimed it lost the presidential election in Borno State because the ruling party rigged votes. So he promised to defend his vote in the state election.