The governorship candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance in Anambra State, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, cast his vote after over five hours of waiting on Sunday.
Soludo reportedly voted at 5:10pm at Isuofia Ward 13 Unit 002, Aguata Local Government Area of the state.
He was said to have arrived at his polling unit located at Afiyi Square at about 11:30am but was unable to vote as a result of the technical hitches on the INEC’s Bimodal Verification Accreditation System.
The New Agency of Nigeria reports that there was delay during accreditation of voters around 10am as the BVAS malfunctioned.
At about 2pm, only 18 out of over 700 voters had been accredited and were able to voted.
A new BVAS was brought to the polling unit at 4:05 pm, thereby paving the way for unhindered accreditation and voting.
After voting, Soludo lauded the INEC for ensuring a peaceful and smooth electoral process.
He said, “I told you I’m an optimist which is why I waited for over five hours forty minutes, because I believe INEC will come through.
“You can also see that in spite of the delay, our people waited patiently and were so determined to cast their votes no matter the time.
“That is to show you that APGA is Anambra and Anambra is APGA. I believe the will of God will prevail no matter the delay. APGA will win.
“I look forward to the credibility and legitimacy of the process. I also believe we have the popular mandate of the people and I believe the system will deliver at the end of the day.”
Soludo also commended the electorates for maintaining calm and peace in spite of the logistics challenges.
Meanwhile, counting of votes has commenced at PU 002
Ward 01, Ekwulu Village Hall Umuona and PUs 004, 005, 006 and 007 in Umuona, Aguata LGA.
Also, at PU 014 and 013
Ward 001 in Community High School, Nanka in Orumba North,
voting was still on around 5pm.
NAN reports that voting was extended to Sunday due to the failure of the BVAS in most parts of the state.
(NAN).
