- Safiu Kehinde
A Presiding Officer of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has reportedly fainted during Anambra Governorship election on Saturday after the the Bi-Modal Verification and Accreditation System (BVAS) machine malfunctioned.
The incident occurred at polling unit 005 in Enugwu-Ukwu in Njikoka Local Government Area.
The presiding officer, identified as Miss Blessing Egoigwe, fainted at the heat of complaints by thick crowd of people and confusion as a result of malfunctioning of BVAS .
She was later rushed to undisclosed hospital for medical attention.
More than 470 voters were denied the right to cast their votes at Enugwu-Ukwu Community ward 2 polling unit 005 in Njikoka Local Government Area
According to reports, the malfunctioning of the BVAS and difficulty for the machine to recognise voters cards of newly registered voters caused the uproar.
Miss Blessing Okoye, 18 year old and first time voter said that she was denied the opportunity due to lack of functional BVAS that failed to capture her fingerprint.
Okoye said that she was pained over the challenge and felt demoralised in the process and appealed to the electoral body to improve the system.
“My hope to vote to a candidate of my choice was dashed by INEC today.
Mrs Ifeoma Iloeze,a 55 year voter said she was unable to vote after waiting since morning till this evening 6: 29 p.m due to the BVAS failed to capture my face.
Iloeze said that the experience was painful and advised that alternative way of voting should be in place in the next election as it was sad to be denied the right to vote.
Meanwhile, INEC technician was alerted on the situation in the area and he visited the polling unit, but little improvement was made.
It was also reported that some dead voters were seen on the list of registered voters posted.