Rivers State Governor, Nysome Wike has expressed disappointment with the functionality of the Biomodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machine deployed by the Independent National Electoral Commission to his polling unit.
Wike arrived at his polling unit 7 in Ward 9 in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area with his wife, Justice Suzzette Eberechi Wike at about 10:30 am.
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However, the BVAS could not accredit the Governor and his wife who were the first voters at the pilling unit.
After over 20 minutes of unsuccessful tries, a female electoral official appealed to the first family members to check back.
The official said technicians will be set to rectify the fault.
Assessing the exercise after a long wait, Wike described the process as a failure, as he was disappointed with the functionality of the machine at his polling unit.
He said, “INEC ought to have put all its tools in order before now.
“We are highly disappointed. INEC told us they were ready for the election and that the BVAS machines were working.
“You can see the crowd here; I don’t think that most people will be able to vote with the slow working of the BVAS.
“I have stayed here for about 25 minutes. I was told to go and come back.
“We are highly disappointed. If a number of people are disenfranchised, what do you expect? People will lose their temper and anything could happen.
“INEC ought to have been completely ready before telling the people they are ready,” he said.
The governor also expressed the fear that the failure of the machine could mar the election.
