Elderly, women, youths turnout in large numbers in Karu to vote

Residents of Karu on Saturday, turned out enmass at their various polling units as early as 7a. m. to cast their votes.

The residents, mostly the elderly, youths and women showed readiness to vote and wait until the end of the process.

They said it was a deciding moment for the country and they were happy to be part of it.

Mrs Juliet Akan, a voter at Ward 010, Transport Quarters said she was prepared to go through the rigours of the day to ensure that the right people were voted into power.

Akan, a teacher, said she was there with food and chair so as not to have any reason to go back home.

Mr Olaleke Oluwasayo, a voter, at Ward 071, said he came out to vote because of the assurance given by the Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC) that “our votes would count”.

Oluwasayo, who is in his 30s, said he was anxious to see the outcome of the election.

Mrs Doris Obienyi, another voter at Ward 071, who said she had never voted, said she took the decision to vote this time because she was hopeful her vote would count.

Mr John Joseph, at Ward 067, said he set out as early as 5:00 to arrive early at the polling unit.

Joseph, a public servant, who said he was the second person to arrive at the polling unit, said the 2023 election was unique.

According to him, he wants to join other Nigerians to decide the future of the country.

The voter, a public servant in his mid 40s, said he was elated to be part of the election.

“I got my Permanent Voter Card(PVC) in 2018 but could not vote because I was sick.

“Thank God I am able to make it this year,”he said.

The News Agency of Nigeria(NAN) reports that voters, who are in high spirits were seen conducting themselves orderly.

In some polling units, voters were seen taking numbers while waiting anxiously to cast their votes.

Some voters were seen with food, water and chairs at their polling units.

Meanwhile, there is presence of security personnel including Police, Road Safety, Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps at strategic locations.

Equally, observers, party agents and media personnel were seen at various polling units waiting for accreditation and voting to begin.

NAN reports that INEC said 87 million Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) have so far been collected nationwide for the general elections.

NEC Chairman Mahmood Yakubu, who gave the breakdown, said the figure showed that Lagos leads in the number of collected PVCs with 6,214,970. This is closely followed by Kano with 5,594,193, and Kaduna with 4,164, 473.

He noted that the current voter register has over 94 million voters but stated that the Commission will continue to clean it up with technology going forward.

According to him, of the number, 93.3 percent have collected their PVCs while 6,259,229 cards — which is 6.7 percent of PVCs — are still uncollected.

The INEC chairman further revealed that a total of 1,642,385 polling units and collation center agents of political parties will participate in the elections.
(NAN)
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