One of the officials at the council headquarters, who asked not to be named because he was authorised to speak, told PREMIUM TIMES that they encountered a delay in distributing election materials.

Voting has not commenced in most communities in Oru East Local Government Area of Imo State.

Governor Hope Uzodinma of Imo State hails from Omuma in the council area.

When PREMIUM TIMES visited various polling units in Eleh, Omuma and other communities in the area, it was observed that election officials had yet to arrive as of 8:56 a.m.

The process is expected to commence at 8:30 a.m. and end by 2:30 a.m., according to election guidelines released by INEC.

But as of 9:20 a.m., the process had yet to start across polling units in the council area.

Some election officials seen at local government headquarters at about 9:11 a.m. were seen preparing to head to polling units to commence the exercise.

One of the officials at the council headquarters, who asked not to be named because he was authorised to speak, told PREMIUM TIMES that they encountered a delay in distributing election materials.

"Election will start as soon as they go to their designated polling units," he said.

The official did not however give details of what caused the delay.