INEC declares ballot papers missing in Niger

The Independent National Electoral Commission in Niger State on Friday said that ballot papers for the senatorial positions of Niger East and Niger North zone were missing.
Prof. Samuel Egwu, Resident Electoral Commissioner in the state, made the declaration while interacting with newsmen in Minna, saying that the respective election might not hold.
He told the news Agency of Nigeria, “The issue has been reported to the INEC’s Headquarters in Abuja for urgent attention.
“The officials of the Central Bank of Nigeria saddled with the responsibility of securing the electoral sensitive materials have gone to Abuja for the last batch of the sensitive materials for Saturday’s elections in the state, so we are waiting,’’ he said.
Egwu said that 85 per cent of the needed facilities for the conduct of free and fair elections in the state had been provided with the non-sensitive materials already moved to various destinations across the 25 local government areas of the state.
He said that the commission trained 23,000 ad hoc staff for the elections in the state.
The REC also said that 2,181,400 eligible voters would participate during the general elections in the state.