As the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) electorate file out to vote for their representatives at the six area councils in the FCT, most residents, especially in the city centre, remained indifferent to the exercise, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) is reporting.
The Minister of the FCT, Nyesom Wike, on Friday declared a work-free day and imposed a 22-hour restriction of movement.
In a special broadcast on Thursday, Wike said movement within the FCT would be restricted from 8pm on Friday to 6pm on Saturday.
NAN, however, observed unrestricted movement of vehicles, transporters, and commuters within the FCT, especially within Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) through Airport Road to Gwagwalada.
Some of the residents, who spoke with NAN, claimed they were not aware of the election in the FCT six area councils: Abaji, AMAC, Bwari, Gwagwalada, Kuje, and Kwali.
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The situation was, however, different in Kwali and Abaji area councils where there was relative compliance with the minister’s directive as stores remained locked and voters were seen at different polling units.
At the Pilot Science Nursery and Primary School in Kwali Area Council with a cluster of polling units, officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) were on ground as early as 7am with election materials.
Peace Esan, one of the officials who spoke with NAN, said they slept at the polling centre under the watch of security personnel to avoid arriving late, adding that voters’ accreditation started at 8:30am.
Some voters were also seen on queue waiting to cast their votes for their preferred candidates after confirming their names on the displayed voters’ register.
NAN reports that the elections are being conducted in a total of 2,822 polling units across 62 wards in the six area councils of the FCT.
