Some hoodlums, on Saturday, snatched ballot papers meant for A.U Suleman II polling unit at the 2026 Abaji area council election in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The election was halted as a result of the disruption.
Speaking with journalists, Musa Ibrahim, assistant presiding officer 1, said the hoodlums invaded the polling unit in Abaji south ward shortly after the election commenced at about 9am.
The official said two bundles of ballot papers, each containing 100 sheets, out of which 27 had been used from each bundles for the chairmanship and counselorship elections, were carted away by the hoodlums.
He, however, said the polling unit ifficials in collaboration with the security agents on ground were able to secure other sensitive and non-sensitive material.
Ibrahim said when calm was restored, attempts to continue with the process was stalled by some party agents who insisted that the missing ballot papers must first be recovered.
“We did the maths and saw that about 73 are missing. Since the BVAS has taken cognisance of the ones we have used, elections can continue and a detailed report will be made to address the matter,” NAN quoted him as saying.
“While some party agreed that the process should continue, some other agents strongly disagreed on the grounds that the stolen papers could be used to manipulate the outcome of the elections.
“We have now put the election on holds waiting for 2.30 p.m when election should close and then we will count what we have and declare results.”
Musa Bashir, a witness, explained that the incident occurred during a disagreement among party agents following the visit of the sitting council chairman to the polling unit to observe proceedings.
He said the affected polling unit is one of the strongholds of the chairman, alleging that the attack was aimed at frustrating voters supporting the chairman.
Bashir said all efforts and appeals by stakeholders to the agents to allow the voting process continue did not yield the required result.
According to NAN, stranded voters were seen sitting on the floor while others were standing at different locations within the polling unit, hoping that the process will resume.
