Rivers rerun: Etche LGA records low turnout of voters

The on-going legislative election on Saturday recorded low turnout in some parts of Etche local government area of Rivers.

The election is the conclusion of the 2015 general election to fill up Etche state constituency II and Etche/Omuma federal constituency seats.

According to NAN, there was voter apathy at Ward 3, Unit 6 of Etche. Accreditation in the unit reportedly started at 8:30am with the card readers in good condition.

Kappa Iseleme, presiding officer of the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) in charge of the unit, said that the area was peaceful and the voters were cooperating.

“Voters names were displayed at the polling units, voting are being done according to the published names,” he said.

In Olakwor ward 13, election had already been concluded while in Okahi ward 11, it was still ongoing.

A collation agent of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Godknows Aniele at ward 3, Igbo 1, attributed the voter’s apathy to conduct of the election which ought to have been held since 2015.

He said after having voted three times on the same election, the voters felt indifferent.

Aniele claimed that most voters were not aware that election had been rescheduled.

The elections into the legislative seats were postponed indefinitely following the violence that broke out during the general elections in the area in 2015, and in December, 2016.