Build Up To The Crisis

[TGD]

 BY 8.30am yesterday, news of postponement of the election filtered in from Minna, Niger State. Indeed, it first appeared on the ubiquitous Facebook newsfeeds. But it appeared as one of the April fools' hangover.            

Then, accreditation was going on smoothly within the Abuja City centre, where SMS feeds were flying about the massive turnout of women and such other electoral stuff.

But gradually, by 10am, some warning signals began to trickle in from the FCT satellite towns and villages about how some INEC officials were nowhere to be found at that time!

From Gwarimpa, a major housing estate by the Federal Housing Authority, another story came in from a polling station about how no one turned up for even accreditation by 1am and how the voters' register was not the proper register in another polling booth, which caused panic.            

Then inquiries began to pour in about pockets of logistics challenges, especially in the neighbouring villages.        

While trying to absorb the feeds from Gwarimpa, The Guardian reporter, Joke Akanmu, who lives at Iddo Sarki village on the Airport road, filed a leak through the SMS thus: "Accreditation of voters commenced around 9:30am. Some voters were performing their civic duties in an orderly manner with the help of some IEC officials on ground. But around 11.40am, one of the National Youth Corps members claimed she got a text message directing her to stop the election process till further notice. When asked on whose authority, the reply was 'I did not know....'"

Before the postponement was confirmed by the INEC Chief, Professor Attahiru Jega, our reporter had sent in another story that, "some voters had confirmed to her that some politicians in the remote area had approached them, that they could buy their voter cards for N200."

Earlier, State House Correspondent, Mandu Onuorah, had sent in another dampener from the President's village, Otuoke in Bayelsa State: "No INEC personnel or materials at the president's polling centre till now at 10:44am and that is the same story we just confirmed about Anambra State, among others in the East...."

The Guardian noted that even before the official confirmation of election's postponement, one of the lessons being discussed in Abuja, wherever people were gathered, was that information and tit-bits about the April election processes flew faster than people had envisaged.

As a result, before Professor Jega began his apologies and alibi in Abuja yesterday, most residents of Abuja at home and at polling stations were aware that something was wrong with the elections.

The Hot FM in Abuja had, "15 minutes, every 15 minutes" been harping on the situation in Imo State where they were talking about INEC officials holding a series of meetings instead of accreditation.

The reason for the endless meetings in Owerri is no longer blowing in the wind! It's going to be on Monday!      



Source: Build Up To The Crisis