Ondo Poll Update: Boat conveying voting materials capsizes in Ilaje LGA

AS voting begins in the Ondo State governorship election today, the perils of election logistics in the riverine parts of the state came to the fore with the sinking of a canoe hauling voting materials in Ilaje Local Government Area. 

The incident which happened yesterday saw one of the canoes sink into the creek, causing pandemonium, as crews in other canoes quickly moved in to rescue the drowning ad hoc staff of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Although no casualty was recorded in the incident, the loss of voting materials could impact the voting process in the polling units concerned.

As at the time of filing this report, INEC is yet to comment on the development or its plan for back up to ensure the incident does not disrupt the voting process.

The terrain challenge in Ondo State was one of the major challenge highlighted by observer groups in the build up to the poll.

It would be recalled that one of the groups, the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) had urged INEC to firm up its logistics for deployment of materials and collation of results.

CDD had expressed the hopes that INEC will strategically factor these areas in its deployment plans to ensure there is no late arrival of materials.

The incident brings to the fore the possible challenges, which could be encountered during the result collation process.