Voter turnout was low on Saturday morning across several polling units in the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) during the ongoing Federal Capital Territory Area Council elections.
A visit to Polling Units 006, 007 and 008 in the City Centre Registration Area showed sparse attendance as electoral officials commenced accreditation and voting.
At Polling Unit 006, voting started at about 8:30 a.m., but as of 9:50 a.m., only seven voters had cast their ballots.
The presiding officer at the unit expressed concern over the slow pace of turnout.
“We are still waiting for people to come out and vote. Though we commenced at 8:30 a.m., as of 9:50 a.m., only seven people have voted,” the officer said.
A similar situation was observed at Polling Unit 008, where officials attended to a handful of voters while awaiting more residents. Electoral materials and voting machines were reported to be functioning without glitches.
“Everything is going on fine. There are no issues with the machines for now. We are waiting for more voters,” another presiding officer stated.
Security presence was noticeable around the polling areas to ensure order and safeguard electoral materials.
Personnel of the Nigeria Police Force, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, and the Nigeria Correctional Service were deployed to maintain a peaceful voting environment.
As of the time of filing this report, election activities were proceeding smoothly, albeit with low voter participation in the affected polling units.
