There was an atmosphere of near-total silence and inactivity across many polling units on Saturday, during bye-elections conducted to fill vacant legislative seats for Ungogo and Kano Municipal state constituencies.
At several polling units visited, electoral officials and security men outnumbered voters, while residents went about their normal daily activities, largely indifferent to the exercise.
In many locations visited, ad-hoc staff of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, were left idle, with some seen waiting endlessly and others resting due to the absence of voters.
As early as 8:00 a.m., when the AIT.live crew arrived at the Kano Municipal Area Registration Centre, INEC ad-hoc staff were present to collect non-sensitive materials for the conduct of the election.
INEC National Commissioner confirmed the timely deployment of personnel and logistics, expressing satisfaction with the level of preparedness.
Despite the early commencement and smooth logistical arrangements by INEC, voter turnout remained extremely low. Across 11 polling units visited within Ungogo and Kano Municipal between 8:30 a.m. and 1:00 p.m., there were little or no voters on the ground.
Election materials arrived on time in Ungogo Local Government Area. But in most places visited, voting did not commence until 10am.
At Panisau Polling Unit, while voting commenced early, the turnout remained low at about 10:30am
Some of the voters described the election as peaceful despite the the low turn-out.
INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner, Abdu Zango attributed the low turn-out in the by-elections to timing and the general feeling that the election holds little significance
The outcome of this exercise appears to be sending a strong signal to INEC, political parties, civil society groups, and other stakeholders in Nigeria’s electoral process that significant work lies ahead before the 2027 general elections, particularly in the areas of voter sensitisation, mobilisation, and civic education.
(Editor: Terverr Tyav)
