Senator George Thompson Sekibo (right) casting his vote during Rivers National and State Assembly Re-run election at Ogu-Bolo Local Government Area Saturday. Pix: Nwiueh Donatus Ken.<\/p><\/div>\n

The parliamentary rerun
\nelection on Saturday in Rivers State was characterised by low turnout of voters, especially in Port Harcourt and environs.
\nThe correspondents report that the situation was due to screening which the voters were being subjected to various security check points around the city.
\nAt the check points the\u00a0 voter is expected to raise his or her hands while approaching as sign that he or she is not carrying any dangerous item.
\nSome of the voters who were seen returning to their homes told our correspondents they were not prepared to go through the rigours of raising their hands and being frisked \u201cjust because we came out to vote.\u2019\u2019
\nThey said that it was their right to vote but not under such stringent condition.
\n\u201cI wanted to go and vote out of my own will but I will not allow myself to be subjected to raising hands,\u2019\u2019 one of the voters, who declined introduction, said.
\nThe development was critical at the polling units in Ward 2, Rumudara in Obio\/Akpor Local Government Area where the voters were discouraged by the security post at Artillery junction, Aba Road.
\nHowever, polling\u00a0 commenced in most areas more than two hours later than scheduled time of 8 a.m. due to late arrival of electoral officials and materials.
\nIn some centres, including those in Ward 8 in Oyigbo West and Ward 16 in Obio\/Akpor, the officials arrived at between 9.30 a.m. and 10.30 a.m.
\nThe exercise was relatively peaceful as there was adequate presence of security personnel, and card readers deployed at the centres were functioning properly.
\nA voter in Ward 8, Mr Chuks Obi,\u00a0 commended the security arrangement for the election, saying that he was encouraged to come out and vote by the \u201ctight security.\u201d
\nAccording to him, in spite of anticipated violence, the security presence in the state gave me the courage to come out to exercise my voting right.
\nObi said that although the local government area had no history of violence, \u201cI heard that 6, 000 policemen were deployed to the state to provide security for the election\u2019\u2019.
\nHe said that such number of security personnel was not needed for election in an ideal society, and urged politicians to stop being desperate about elections.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The parliamentary rerun election on Saturday in Rivers State was characterised by low turnout of voters, especially in Port Harcourt and environs. The correspondents report that the situation was due to screening which the voters were being subjected to various security check points around the city. At the check points the\u00a0 voter is expected to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n