Dr. Cyril Omorogbe, the Resident Electoral Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission in Delta State, has blamed the delay in commencement of voting in some parts of the state on late arrival of result sheets.
The REC disclosed this to newsmen on Saturday in Asaba.
Omorogbe noted that some materials, particularly the result sheets, arrived the Central Bank of Nigeria, Asaba at about 12pm on Friday.
He, however, gave the assurance that the process, though starting a bit behind schedule, would be concluded well, as materials were being dispatched to respective wards and units across the state.
He appealed to the people to be patient as the challenges were being addressed while assuring that he would be visiting the polling centres to feel their pulse.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the electorate arrived at most voting centres ahead of the materials and INEC officials.
In Ward 9 unit 3, Okpanam, Oshimili North Local Government Area, voting commenced at about 9:20am.
Victor Nwaokobia, the first to vote at the unit, said despite the delay he hoped that the process would go on well.
On his part, Chief Patrick Ukah, the state Commissioner for Information, who also voted at the unit, said the smart card reader was a bit slow and that INEC officials were trying to master the use.
According to Ukah, the challenge was not peculiar to Delta State because the issue has been raised in some other states he contacted.
He added: “The security men are on ground and they are doing well; nobody is being harassed and as you can see, the voting is going on smoothly.”
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