THE long-awaited voters’ registration may run smoothly nationwide going by the assurances of the Independent National Election Commission (INEC) yesterday that it was fully prepared for the exercise in all states of the federation.
In Anambra State, the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) Prof. Chukwuemeka Onukaogu, said the commission’s officials and materials had been adequately mobilized for the scheme, which begins in all the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
He therefore urged Nigerians to turn out en mass for the two-week exercise.
But a human rights group, Intersociety based in Awka, Anambra State, has expressed worry over INEC’s ability to conclude the registeration of over 70 million Nigerians within the stipulated time.
In a letter to INEC Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, Chairman Board of Directors of Intersociety, Emeka Umeagbalasi said eligible Nigerian voters needed a lot of basic information on the project, which he alleged was still shrouded in secrecy. He listed such vital information as where to register, time for the commencement of the exercise and the time it will end each day, patterns for the registration, the types of card(s) to be issued among others.
When he led his team to the Anambra Government House yesterday, Onukaogu said INEC had embarked on a tour of the state to create awareness on the scheme.
He therefore charged all stakeholders especially those of voting to participate in the registration.
The Deputy Governor, Emeka Sibeudu, who represented Governor Peter Obi at the parley, said the state government had mobilized resources to assist INEC to conduct a free, fair and credible election in the country in April this year.
Obi said: “Government has continued with mass sensitization of the public on the need to participate actively in the registration exercise in the forthcoming election,” and urged the electorate to vote for the candidates of their choice.
Umeagbalasi, however, lamented that Nigerians were yet to know the extent of security arrangements so far made by INEC to ensure that politicians do not hijack the entire process.
In Jigawa State, INEC has received 3,174 Direct Data Capturing Machines (DDCMs) of the 3,527 meant for the exercise.
The public affairs, political parties, monitoring and liaison officers of the electoral body in the state, Alhaji Sirajo Usman Kore indicated yesterday that the remaining 353 machines would arrive in the state.
He explained that the state has 3,527 polling units and each will be allocated one DDC machine for the conduct of the registration exercise.
Kore said the commission would engage 7,341 ad-hoc personnel comprising of assistant registration officers, two per polling unit bringing the total to 7,054.
He added that 287 Registration Area Centre Officers (RACOS) would be recruited to oversee 287 registration centres in the state, with each centre manned by an officer.
Meanwhile, the Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN) governorship candidate in Kwara State, Senator Gbemi Rukayat Saraki has urged indigenes of the state to participate in the voter registration.
Saraki also appealed to them to exercise their fundamental right to vote for their preferred candidates because it is sacred and sacrosanct.
“The survival of democracy and indeed our nation’s growth will depend on each individual being able to express their voting rights without intimidation or disenfranchisement,” she said, even as she reminds the people of Kwaran that the ACPN is the true symbol of peace, people and democracy.
In a statement in Ilorin, Saraki said the only way the people can bring development they have been yearning for to their communities is by being proactive in the electoral process.
According to her, the coming elections can only be successful if people participate actively.? She warned that failure to register during the exercise means that the people will have disenfranchised themselves.
The INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner, Mr. Habu Zarma, has said the commission in Plateau State has received 2,368 DDC machines instead of the needed 2,631.
At a press conference in Jos, Zarma said that the remaining ones were on the way, adding that INEC officials were ready to work from the time the machines arrive to take them to the units that need them before the exercise takes off this morning.
He said the needed 2,631 machines are the equivalent of the number of registration units in the state, adding that the commission will install one in each of the centres to be manned by a registration centre officer (RECO).
On security challenges in the state, Zarma told journalists that the commission had met with heads of the security agencies, the Special Task Force (STF), the Police, the State Security Services (SSS), the Civil Defence and the Immigration and Road Safety Commission to ensure the safety of its materials and personnel
The Edo State office of INEC has also received 1,731 machines for the exercise. But the number is less by 1,000 for the number required to cover the estimated 2,269 polling units in the 192 wards of the state.
The state Resident Electoral Commissioner, Dr. Rose Oboforibo, who stated this yesterday in Benin City, however said her office had configured all the machines to fit with the registration/polling units in specific local councils Oboforibo also yesterday inaugurated the Edo State Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security, which she said would harmonize the efforts of all security agencies to ensure free, fair and credible general elections in April this year.
9:24 PM
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