95-yr-old woman arrives polling unit at 6am in Osun

By Deborah Oladejo, Osogbo

A 95-year-old woman, Rebecca Amusan said she arrived early at her polling unit because she wishes for a better Nigeria.

Amusan said she arrived polling unit 9, ward 2, CAC School, Esu-Abon, Ife Noth Local Government Area of Osun State at exactly 6am to cast her vote.

The nonagenarian first expressed disappointment when the BIVAS machine neither recognised her face nor finger during the accreditation process.

As at 9am, when our correspondent got to the polling unit, Amusan was the number one person on the queue to be attended to by officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

After her finger was rejected by BIVAS, the officials tried the woman’s face but it was also not verified.

In an interview, Amusan said she couldn’t remember how many Presidents of Nigeria she had voted for but noted that she was out early to ensure that Nigeria becomes better.

Speaking on how she felt about the difficulty she faced during accreditation, she said: “I think my hands are weak. That’s why they didn’t see them.”

It was gathered that Amusan, who uses walking stick, was brought to the polling unit by her daughter.

When officials couldn’t accredit the nonagenarian voter, she was asked to step aside for a while for others on the queue to be attended to.

The presiding officer at the polling unit said: “We will return to her. We just want her to relax for a while before we try accrediting her again.”

After about five minutes of waiting, the accreditation was retried for her and it was successful and she voted immediately.