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Voting has commenced in Bayelsa, Imo and Kogi states for the governorship elections in the three states.
Voting started around 08:30am in polling units observed by Channels Television’s correspondents in the three states.
Accreditation of voters and voting commenced simultaneously.
This followed the arrival of officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) at polling units with sensitive and non-sensitive materials.
The decision of who become the next governor of the three states rests on the electorate as over five million voters in Bayelsa, Imo and Kogi states go to the polls today.
Some analysts have said that the governors of the three states for the next four years will be determined by youths and the middle-aged as they form over 60 per cent of the total number of PVCs collected in the three states.
In Imo State, INEC gave the figure of the registered voters as 2, 419,922 and Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) collected as 2,318,919 with youths and the middle age demographical groups having 33% (801K) and 32% (783K).
In Kogi, the total number of registered voters is 1,932,654 and PVCs collected is 1,833,160 with youths taking a lump 44% (850k) and the middle-aged having 32% (341K)
For Bayelsa, the total number of registered voters is 1,056,862 whilst total PVCs collected put at 1,017,613 with youths taking 42% (439K) and the middle-aged having 40% (424K).
INEC also deployed 46,000 staff of the commission to the three states while sensitive and non-sensitive materials including Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines have arrived at the polling units.
The electoral umpire has also assured voters that the Result Viewing Portal (IReV) would work today despite the glitches experienced with the technology in the February 25, 2023 presidential poll.
Governor Duoye Diri of Bayelsa State and Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State are seeking re-election in their respective states whilst Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State is out of the ballot, nearing the completion of his double terms of eight years.
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