Retired Col. David Dungs, DPP candidate in the Plateau North senatorial by-election, has advised INEC to make sure that all unused election materials are returned intact.
“It is the only way to avoid massive thump-printing of ballot papers that were not used,’’ Dungs told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Riyom on Saturday.
Dungs, who spoke shortly after voting in his Riyom LGA Primary School polling unit, said INEC must closely monitor the electoral officers in affected polling units to avoid hijack of the materials by? “desperate politicians’’.
“DPP is aware that places like Bauchi road, Eto-baba, and communities around the University of Jos, recorded a near-absence of voters due to the general apathy that characterised the by-election.
“INEC must ensure that it lives above board in this election because people are expecting an improvement from what transpired in the Edo governorship poll that was adjudged as credible by many observers,’’ he said.
He commended the security arrangement that ensured an orderly and peaceful conduct of the election.
Dungs decried the apathy that reportedly characterised the election in several local governments, and called on voters to always show interest in deciding who should lead them.
Also speaking on the by-election, former Plateau House of Assembly member, Emmanuel Danboyi, expressed satisfaction with the smooth conduct of the exercise, and also commended the security agencies for ensuring that.
Danboyi lauded the 24-hour restriction on vehicular movement which, he said, ensured the peaceful conduct of the exercise.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the by-election followed the death, on July 8, of Sen. Gyang Dantong in a stampede after gunmen attacked mourners at Maseh, a village in the Bachit District of Riyom Local Government.