A Presiding Officer, Miss Angela Oshogwe, at the ongoing governorship election in Ondo State has said that the Bio modal Voter Accreditation System( BVAS) machine could not capture faces of some elderly voters.

Oshogwe, manning Poling Unit 19, Ward 11 Olamojuba, Ondo in Ondo West Local Government Area of theT state, said that she had lodged the complaints about the BVAS not capturing elderly voters to the concerned authorities.

She added that the response she got was that the complaint was not limited to her polling unit, stating that the elderly had been waiting for long to vote without success.

According to her, there is the possibility of the BVAS to function before the close of voting.

Reacting to the complaint, Rotimi Oyekanmi, the Chief Press Secretary to INEC Chairman, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the commission was aware of the development in “very limited” polling units

“We are aware that in very limited cases, a few elderly voters couldn’t be accredited by the BVAS at first attempt. But, in subsequent attempts, the problem was resolved.

“A Presiding Officer in one polling unit (PU) out of 3,933 PUs in Ondo State is not in the position to say how widespread a technical problem is.

“From the reports at our disposal, so far, the BVAS is performing satisfactorily. It is not unusual for technical issues to occur in a major off-season election like the one we are conducting today.

“We anticipated it and made adequate arrangements to respond to any type of challenge,” Oyekanmi said

A septuagenarian, Mrs Agnes Olapade, who was affected by the technical problem, said that she was disappointed that she could not vote due to malfunction of the BVAS.

Olapade said she had been at the polling unit, with other affected elderly voters, since 8:00 a.m. without being able to vote.

According to her. she voted in the previous elections without any difficulty.

Similarly, Mrs Rukayat Olawoye, 87 years old, said that she came out because of the voting but was disappointed at the difficulty occasioned by the BVAS.

Another septuagenarian, Mrs Ronke Fayankimi, stated that she and other affected elderly voters would continue to wait, to see if the BVAS would capture their faces to enable them vote for the next Ondo governor.
NAN

By Kayode Sanni-Arewa

There was gunshots by some unknown persons at Ofosun Village, an Ondo community at the boundary with Edo State.

The incident, it was learnt, caused panic, forcing people to stay indoors to avoid being hit by stray bullets.

A source in the village, identified simply as Dauda, who spoke to our correspondent on the phone said, “We don’t know who they are but they were firing gunshots into the air in some parts of the village since early morning. Ofosun is an Ondo village close to Benin in Edo State. No casualty, but people in the village are staying indoors.”

It was not immediately clear what could have led to the incident, but the Deputy Governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Festus Akingbaso, while commending voters’ turnout, expressed concerns over the alleged infiltration of some villages under the Idanre Local Government Area by hoodlums.

Akingbaso, who spoke shortly after casting his vote at Imikan Ward 02, Unit 008, Idanre, commended INEC for the timely arrival of voting materials but alleged, “Information reaching me is that majority of the villages are filled with thugs allegedly brought in by the APC. At the moment, all the villages are occupied with thugs. Villages like Ofosun, Omifunfun and Allah are occupied.

“There is a place called Igbepo where suspected thugs are in their numbers in Idanre Local Government Area. An incident happened in Ofosun where suspected thugs broke into the house of a party member to prevent him from voting. We were informed that there are plans not to allow people in the villages to vote.

have reported the matter to the DPO and DSS. To my expectation, the security agencies have not been able to do anything.”

Reacting to the allegation, the Ondo APC spokesperson, Mr Steve Otaloro, absolved his party of involving in any crime and demanded a thorough investigation into the allegations.

He said, “I am in the situation room of APC right now. Let me say first some foremost, the person you mentioned is the deputy governorship candidate of Agboola Ajayi of the PDP. And if you recall PDP had a press conference two days ago alleging the kind of violence that happened in that place was by APC.

“All the places he mentioned, was he on the ground in all those places? He was supposed to be at his polling unit. Even if he was called, he should have done proper diligence to be on the ground. They told us there was nothing like that. Voting is going on orderly, if they have any issue with that, they just want to create an issue out of nothing.

“As I speak, no member of our political party is going out to vote as a member, everybody has become electorate. Whatever violence that is happening, they should investigate it properly, but I can assure you it is not from our members. How will you infiltrate all those local areas, these are routes and farm settlements? Why will our members infiltrate such places? That is not true.

“More often than not, maybe their plans were burst, and that was why he is coming up with this allegation. And since morning, this election has started peacefully, they should allow it to end peacefully. We as a political party, are committed to peace, and we have told our people to allow peace to reign in all their activities in the course of this election.”

When contacted, the Ondo State Police Public Relations Officer, Funmi Odunlami, said she was in transit.

She also said the incident had not been reported to her.

By Kayode Sanni-Arewa

Jude Nnam, the famous Nigerian Christian music composer, has been kidnapped.

Nnam, also known as ‘Ancestor,’ is the National Music Director for the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and a member of the National Liturgical Commission, Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria (CSN).

He was allegedly kidnapped on Thursday evening around 6 p.m. in Umunnachi, Anambra State.

The music icon is said to have traveled to Anambra for a church function.

A Catholic priest, Rev Fr Augustine Mario, shared the sad news of Nnam’s kidnap on his Facebook page on Friday.

“Please kindly keep Sir Dr. Jude Nnam (Ancestor) in your prayers.

He was allegedly kidnapped yesterday evening around 6 p.m. in Umunnachi, Anambra State.

Sir Jude Nnam is the CAN National Music Director and Member of the National Liturgical Commission, CSN, etc.

“May God grant him safety and quick release from his abductors.