Plateau LG poll: PLASIEC extends voting period as APC alleges disenfranchisement of supporters
The Plateau State Independent Electoral Commission (PLASIEC) has announced the extension of time for the conduct of the ongoing Local Government Elections in the State.According to the commission, the election which was scheduled for 8 Am. to 3Pm. has now been extended by two hours and is expected to end by 5pm.
A statement signed by the Head of Media,, Koro E. Yakubu, said that the extension would affect only areas where there were technical hitches.
The statement said, “The Independent Electoral Commission (PLASIEC) hereby notifies the general public, political parties, candidates, and all stakeholders that the time for the conduct of the ongoing Local Government Elections in Plateau State has been extended.
“The election which was scheduled for 8 Am. to 3Pm. has now been extended by two hours and is expected to end by 5pm. in the affected polling units.
“This extension has become necessary due to unforeseen challenges encountered in some areas as regards the late arrival of sensitive materials in certain polling units across the state.
“The Commission is actively addressing this issue and working to ensure that all materials are deployed accordingly and every voter exercises their franchise.
“The technical hitch earlier experienced with the Voter Accreditation Software, VVS in some polling units across the state has been resolved as the Presiding Officers have since reverted to the use of the manual registers and voting has commenced as stated by the Chairman of the Commission, Plangji Cishak.
The extension is coming at a time that the All Progressives Congress APC is alleging that its supporters were disenfranchised in their strong holds.
APC, in a statement signed by the Publicity Secretary, Shittu Bamaiyi, said that what’s happening in the election confirmed its suspicion that there were attempts to compromise the exercise.
The statement said, “The APC has uncovered a systematic way of depriving it’s candidates of victory in the ongoing elections.”Reports reaching the Party’s Secretariat revealed that most of the APC strongholds have been grossly short-changed by inadequate ballot papers.
“For example in Pankshin, Kanke, Bokkos and Bassa Local government areas,some polling Units were only given 20% of the required ballot papers as well as result sheets.”It has come to the notice or the Jos South collation agents in the 2024 LG election that the entire LG was short-changed.
“The total number of registered voters in Jos South are 307,672 but PLASIEC has provided just 150,000 ballot papers each for both Councilorship & Chairmanship election.
“This amounts to just 49% of the total voting population in the LGA. 157,672 ballot papers for each election today was not produced & this amounts to about 51% people disenfranchised.
“In some areas, up to the time of this report, there are no election materials in some parts of Qua’an Pan local government area.
“It is therefore evident that there is deliberate attempt to rig the APC out at all costs.While enjoining our party supporters to remain calm and law abiding, the party appealed to its supporters y to cast their votes and also defend them,” the statement added.
