The collation of votes for the presidential election in Borno State, North-East Nigeria, has been postponed to 4 PM due to the absence of political party representatives at the Multipurpose Hall 5 of the Kashim Ibrahim College of Education in Maiduguri, the designated venue for the exercise. The Presidential Collation Officer, Prof. Jude Rabo, made this announcement shortly after the session began at 1:25 PM. Upon realizing that no party representatives were present, Rabo halted the proceedings, stating that the exercise could not continue without their participation.
Delays in the electoral process in Borno State are not uncommon. On Saturday, our correspondent observed that at the Shettima Kukawa Polling Unit 023 in Lawan Bukar Ward, where the APC Vice Presidential Candidate, Kashim Shettima, voted, electoral materials did not arrive until 10:42 AM—over two hours after voting was scheduled to begin. Shettima initially arrived at the polling unit to cast his vote but left due to the absence of officials from the Independent National Electoral Commission. He later returned to fulfill his voting obligation.
An official who spoke to our correspondent attributed the absence of party representatives at the collation to a major fire incident that occurred at the popular Maiduguri Monday Market in the early hours of Sunday. The official indicated that the representatives were likely affected directly or had family members and close friends impacted by the fire. When our team visited sections of the market, hundreds of traders were seen struggling to salvage what remained of their goods. In response to the disaster, Borno State Governor, Prof. Babagana Zulum, toured the burning market on Sunday morning and announced a relief package of 1 billion Naira for the victims. He also pledged to meet with President Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) to seek additional assistance.
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