Rose Ejembi, Makurdi

Issues with malfunctioning card readers almost marred the presidential and National Assembly elections in some parts of Benue State.

Our correspondent observed that some prominent politicians including the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Emmanuel Jime, stayed for several hours at his Ndabagi polling Unit 011, North Bank, Makurdi before he could exercise his franchise.

Presiding Officer of Ndabagi Polling Unit, Dorcas Basking, told newsmen that the card reader was not verifying, adding that she had already reported the matter to the office.

But after over three hours, the card reader was eventually ready and Jime was called upon for accreditation and voting.

Jime who arrived the polling unit in company with his wife, Comfort, was excited that he could finally exercise his civic responsibility after over three hours and he hoped that it would be the same for all Nigerians.

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“This is a process that should have started since 8am. The fact that we still have a huge crowd here shows that Nigerians are ready for change.

“We should not make the electoral process unattractive for electorate.

“I feel I’m on the ballot today because if my president wins, it makes it easier for me to win me election in two week’s time.

He explained further that if the president is coming from the same party with him, it would be easier for him to attract the dividends of democracy to the state.

Our correspondent however observed that voting was largely peaceful in most parts of the state.

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