In a rather disappointing turn of events, the Vice Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Kashim Shettima, was unable to cast his vote at his Shettimari polling unit 001 in Lawan Bukar ward of Maiduguri metropolis on Saturday, February 25.
This was as a result of the glaring absence of election officials at the designated polling unit.
Shettima, who had arrived at the polling unit around 10 a.m., was met by a sizable number of other voters who were also eagerly awaiting the arrival of the officials and election materials.
Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State was in attendance to offer his support to the APC Vice Presidential hopeful. However, after waiting patiently for about 10 minutes, they both had to leave without being able to exercise their civic duty.
Meanwhile, voting activities had already kicked off in several other polling units located within the metropolis, with reports of seamless and incident-free exercises.
This recent development has once again highlighted the need for proper planning and organization by relevant authorities to ensure that such occurrences are avoided in future elections.
Meanwhile, officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission arrived at polling unit 023, Alhaji Kukawa, Lawan Bukar area of Maiduguri metropolis, at 10:42 am.
The venue is the polling unit of All Progressives Congress vice presidential candidate, Kashim Shettima.
The officials who arrived in a grey Toyota Camry 2015 model and a Mercedes C180, are coming two hours after 08:30 am; the time when voting should have begun as the INEC chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, announced Friday.
It was observed that the officials who came in the company of security against set up the polling booth, as the waiting electorate queued for accreditation and voting.
About an hour earlier, Shettima arrived at the same spot but left soon after discovering that INEC officials were yet to arrive.
He is billed to return as voting is now in progress.
