The Plateau North rerun elections are marred by significant voter apathy, with less than 20 percent turnout recorded in most polling units visited.
As of 9:30 AM (WAT) at Alana Junction, a polling unit in the Rukuba road area of Jos, election officials from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) were ready to commence voting for legislative seats in Plateau North, yet there was not a single voter present.
Similar scenes unfolded across various polling units in the Jos/Bukuru metropolis, where reporters observed the rerun elections. At locations like the Wildlife Park, voting was underway but with a noticeably low turnout. Conversely, Power City on Rukuba Road, one of the polling units plagued by technical glitches and late arrival of officials during the previous general election, saw a relatively higher turnout, albeit still lower than the general election numbers.
Expressing dismay, a user on X platform commented, “Just left the polling station and the level of voter apathy is mind-boggling. It didn’t even take me 5 minutes to cast my vote in a polling unit where you have to be up by 5 am to be guaranteed a spot among the first 100 voters.”
Reflecting on the turnout, a voter at Wildlife Park in Jos shared with JoeyOffAir, “The voting turnout is disheartening. It seems many people felt their time was wasted last year, so they are unsure if their votes will make a difference in the rerun.”
Following last year’s general election, INEC declared Mwadkwon Simon Davou as the winner of the Plateau North senatorial seat and Avia Musa Agah as the federal representative for the Jos North/Bassa constituency, both from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
However, the Appeal Court nullified the elections following appeals from Chris Giwa of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Gyang Zi of the Labour Party (LP). The nullification was due to the PDP’s failure to comply with an earlier high court order mandating the proper conduct of a state congress.
Subsequently, a rerun election was ordered within 90 days, leading to the February 3 rerun in the region, although PDP candidates were excluded from the ballot.