Ortom, Jime commend INEC for early voting, arrival of materials

• Laments Killing Of Father, Son By Suspected APC Thugs On Election Eve
Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom has commended the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for early release of sensitive and non-sensitive materials.

Ortom made the commendation shortly after casting his vote at 9:22a.m. at Polling Unit 003, LGEA Primary School, Ako, Guma Local Council.

The governor said an early release of materials paved the way for early take-off of the accreditation and voting; noting that with such a development, the election would be concluded on time.

He said there was no security challenge in Guma except for the killing of a father and his son on Friday by gunmen at Shanior in Gbajimba, the local council headquarters.

He said he had submitted a comprehensive report of the attack to security agencies for appropriate action, alleging that All Progressives Congress (APC) planned to attack and dislodge people in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) strongholds so that they would not participate in the election.

He expressed optimism that the perpetrators of the heinous act would be apprehended and brought to justice.

Ortom, while appreciating the Commissioner of Police for visiting Guma to supervise the conduct of the election, however, expressed grief that electoral materials meant for Mbalom community of Gwer-East Local Council were burnt in the early hours of yesterday.

On his part, the APC Governorship candidate, Emmanuel Jime, also lauded the massive deployment of security, saying it would safeguard the elections.

He stated: “At the polling unit where I voted, everything was fine. Election materials arrived quite early, the card reader did not fail and voting process was going on smoothly. There was a lot of improvement on the part of INEC. ”