File: Voters queue for accreditation in a Nigerian election

The Chairmanship and Councillorship elections in the central Nigerian state of Niger have commenced  with large turnout of voters in most of the 27 wards of the 24 councils of the state.

According to the  News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), voters started coming out for the exercise as early as 6:30 a.m..

At Sabon Wuse in Tafa Local Government Area, accreditation started at 9:00 a.m. with voters checking the voter register for their names.

Malam Sabo Ibrahim, a resident of Sabon Wuse, told NAN that he arrived the polling unit as early as 6:30 a.m. to exercise his franchise.

“I have to come out early to check my name and be accredited because of the usual large turnout in this area. I want to quickly do some other things before coming back for the actual voting,” Ibrahim said.

Malam Adamu Beji, Supervisory Presiding Officer for Chanchaga ward, told NAN that the distribution of electoral materials to polling units in the area which commenced at 6:00 a.m., was hitch-free.

“We did not encounter any problem distributing our electoral materials in Chanchaga ward.

“It was transparently done with the assistance of 14 Presiding Officers in charge of the polling units in Chanchaga,” Beji said.

Similarly, Alhaji Mohammed Tukur, a Presiding Officer at Kofar Shaba polling unit in the area, said that he received electoral materials at 6:33 a.m. and got to the polling unit at 6:57 a.m.

“We received our electoral materials without any problem, and as you can see, I have displayed the voter register for voters to check their names,’’ Tukur said.

Hajiya Habiba Musa, who registered at the unit, told NAN that she arrived the venue as early as 7:00 a.m. to check her name on the voter list.

Also at Dogon Ruwa of Chanchaga local council, accreditation commenced at 8:10 a.m., while it started at 8:30 a.m. in Gindin Mangoro.

Meanwhile, operatives from the Police, DSS and the NSCDC have been deployed to provide security during the polls.