The Chairman, Bwari Area Council, Mr John Gabaya, has commended the Federal Government’s efforts in ensuring a smooth process for the Saturday’s Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Area Council Elections.
Gabaya made the commendation, while fielding questions from newsmen on Saturday, after casting his vote at LEA Primary School, Tokolo, his hometown in Abuja.
The chairman lauded the efforts of the government, especially in the provision of security agents all around the council to avert any breach of law, describing the exercise as “a good one”.
- FCT election: Tight security in INEC FCT office
- FCT election: CSOs urge political parties to play by rules
Gabaya also, urged all and sundry to support the government and ensure smooth process of the elections, while adding that his hope was for the end result to be free, fair and very transparent.
He, however, called for improvement in the Biometric Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines introduced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the elections.
He claimed that the machine slowed down the entire process, adding that he tried several times before the machine picked up his biometrics and eventually accredited him for voting.
“I tried five times before I was successful. I know these are computers but INEC needs to improve on them and make it more efficient or else, this would delay the entire process.
“You can imagine how many people are out here, waiting to vote and if this continues, when will all these people be given the chance to vote. They may get tired and leave,” he said.
He called on INEC to give urgent attention to the issue of BVAS to ensure that electorate are not disenfranchised subsequently.
The chairman, however, urged the electorate to exercise patience with the process and ensure that they vote for the leaders of their choice.
NAN reports that Gabaya, who is the incumbent chairman of the council, was also contesting for re-election on the platform of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the Saturday.
Gabaya is contesting alongside three other candidates from the All Progressive Congress (APC), Young Progressives Party (YPP) and All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) in the area.
