Voters display apathy as voting begins in FCT Councils

Chairmanship and councillorship election for the six local councils in the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, are holding today with manifest apathy among voters.

As at 8:10 a.m., electoral materials were seen being moved out of the Kuje central distribution centre at Science Primary School to the various polling centres within the area council.

The polling units in Aleyita on Airport Road were also deserted, with only a handful of security men on site, while INEC officials had yet to arrive.

As at 8:26 a.m., only five voters had arrived at the centre for the election, two of whom were political party agents.

One of the voters, Mr Andrew James, said he had been at the polling unit as early as 7:00 a.m. to cast his vote but was disappointed that no INEC official was on ground.

James said that for convenience, all the six polling units in the community were collapsed at LEA Primary School, Aleyita.

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Voting had also yet to commence at the polling unit in Pilot Science Primary School, Kwali as at 8.33 a.m., while INEC officials were seen briefing party agents on the guidelines for the election.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Commercial vehicles and other motorists defied the restriction of movement order by the Minister of FCT Mr Nyesom Wike and the police, as they went about their normal business.

Reports from the correspondents of the News Agency of Nigeria from some areas across the FCT indicated that commercial vehicle, tricycle and motorcycle operators were busy picking residents from one area to the other.

At Airport Road, Jikwoyi, Nyanya, Kuje, Gwagwalade and some parts of Abuja Municipal Area Council, it was free vehicular movement, as no barricade was seen around those areas.

However, on the Kubwa-Nyanya highway, security agents were seen blocking the road with their trucks, forcing motorists to take one way as they were trying to outsmart the military personnel.

Businesses were also closed in most part of the FCT, as most of the shops were under lock and key, while shop owners, laundry operators and Point-of-Sales service providers, however, opened for business in some parts of Airport Road.

NAN