Development Diaries can report that there was late deployment of election materials to polling units in many parts of Nigeria as the country held its 2023 presidential and National Assembly elections on Saturday, 25 February.

In fact, less than 25 percent of polling units opened polls at 8:30am, the stipulated time for the commencement of the elections, according to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Also, based on our observation, a lot of voters experienced difficulties in locating their polling units, with some complaining about not being informed that their polling units were changed.

It was also observed that many prospective voters were kept waiting for long hours before INEC staff arrived to conduct the elections.

In some states, many ad hoc INEC staff could not find their names on the staff list, even after participating in the training exercise, causing further delays.

A voter at polling unit 020, Delim/FCT Ward, Apo Resettlement, Fderal Capital Territory (FCT), Janet Anebi, expressed dissatisfaction with the late arrival of INEC officials.

She said, ‘INEC officials always come late to this polling unit and when they come late they do things in a hurry. If they are not here how will they ensure everyone votes before 2:00pm’.

We also observed the deployment of election materials to the wrong polling units in some parts of Nigeria’s North West and North East sub-regions.

We, therefore, call on INEC to take note of these lapses and come up with measures to ensure the early arrival of election officials and materials.

With regard to vote-buying, we commend operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission ( EFCC) for arresting 17 people suspected of vote-buying in Katsina and Kano States.

It was gathered that six suspects were apprehended in Tofa and Ungogo local government areas (LGAs) with bags of rice and semovita.