Makurdi- Some INEC electoral officers in Benue on Saturday complained that technical issues emanating from the card reader smart machines were slowing down accreditation of voters.
The officers told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) of low battery level of the machines, its inability to verify fingerprints and low manpower deployment at polling units.
According to them, where eight officers were required, only five were posted.
At Hyongo Abela polling unit in Makurdi, voters were stranded as the electoral officers had yet to commence accreditation well after 10 a.m. as against the scheduled 8 a.m.,
The officers complained that the battery level of the card reader was too low to last the duration of accreditation.
Also at Olachagbaha ward in Otukpa, in Ogbadibo local government council of the state, technical problems hindered early commencement of the exercise.
At Ota-Okpailo ward in Okpokwu Local Government Area, the card readers were not functioning, which made the electoral officers to return them to the INEC office for replacement.
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In some polling units in Otukpo, some of the card readers took longer periods for accreditation which delayed the process.
At the Immigration/ Cemetery polling units, A and B, the officers said each of the polling units were expected to have six officers but only three were posted to each.
Some of the voters at the RCM Primary School, Igba-Aluga, in Katsina-Ala Local Government Area, also complained that the card reader for the polling unit failed to function.
However, accreditation of voters in most polling units commenced at exactly 9 a.m. with large numbers of voters waiting patiently to be accredited.
NAN reports that security officials mounted check points on the highways to enforce restriction of unauthorized vehicular movement.
(NAN)
