“Election may not hold: ballot paper missing”

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Niger on Friday said that elections for the senatorial positions of Niger East and Niger North may not hold on Saturday.

The ballot papers meant for the zone are missing.

The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in the state, Samuel Egwu, made the declaration while interacting with journalists in Minna.

“The issue has been reported to the INEC’s Headquarters in Abuja for urgent attention.

“The officials of the Central Bank of Nigeria saddled with the responsibility of securing the electoral sensitive materials have gone to Abuja for the last batch of the sensitive materials for Saturday’s elections in the state, so we are waiting,’’ he said.

Mr Egwu said that 85 per cent of the needed facilities for the conduct of free and fair elections in the state had been provided with the non-sensitive materials already moved to various destinations across the 25 local government areas of the state.

He said that the commission trained 23,000 ad hoc staff for the elections in the state.