PROSPECTIVE VOTERS IN SOUTH EAST CALL FOR MORE REGISTRATION MATERIALS & MANPOWER

Following the announcement of August 17 deadline for the ongoing continues voter Registration in the country, prospective voters in Enugu State are making last minute rush to various centers.

This has led to congestion of the centers with complaints ranging from poor attention from INEC officials to inadequate equipment and manpower.

Our correspondent who monitored the exercise at Enugu East Local Government Council observed that only two sets of computers were used in registering people which forced many to leave in annoyance.

Two of the prospective voters Mr Peter Obodo and Romanus Eze said they were not happy with the slow pace of the exercise.

It was the same story in Enugu South and North Local Government areas where people called for mobilization of more materials and manpower to make the exercise easier.

The Chairman, Enugu South Local Government Area, Chief Sunday Ugwu explained that the council was collaborating with INEC to address the challenges.

The Resident Electoral Commissioner in Enugu State, Mr Emeka Ononamadu stated that mobile Centers had been activated in the state.

Mr Ononamadu gave the assurance that all eligible citizens in the State would be registered as the commission now worked on weekends.

Similarly, eligible voters in Imo State want the Independent National Electoral Commission to deploy more personnel to the field to accommodate the crowd that visit the centres.

They expressed worry that a good number of people might be disenfranchised,if urgent steps were not taken to address the situation.

INEC offices across the twenty seven Local Government Areas of the State have continued to witness unprecedented turn out of eligible voters within the last two weeks.

At Owerri municipal council headquarters, over three hundred people were seen struggling to either register or collect their permanent voters cards.

Although, there were security agents assisting to maintain order at the venue, INEC officials appeared to have been overwhelmed as people spent more than five hours without getting attention.

Reacting, the Public Relations officer of INEC in Imo State, Mrs. Emmanuella Opara said over two hundred and fifty thousand people had been registered within the past one year by the commission in the State.

She said the crowd was as a result of the August seventeenth deadline for registration, but noted that collection of PVCs would continue until one week to the general election.

Mrs. Opara said the commission had extended its operational hours till five o’clock in the evening including weekends to ensure that every eligible voter was captured.

However, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, in Ebonyi State said about sixty five thousand Permanent Voter Cards, PVCs were yet to be collected by their owners at various Voter Registration Centres in the State.

The INEC Head of Voter Education and Publicity in the State, Mr. Andy Ezeani who spoke to Radio Nigeria in Abakaliki described the development as worrisome and urged Leaders in the State to sensitize their people to the need to collect their cards.

Although there was no queue in many INEC registration centres visited in the State, the number of prospective voters seeking to register could be said to be appreciable.

One of them at INEC Registration Centre in Abakaliki Local Government Area, Mr Chika Odi said he was enthusiastic to obtain his Permanent Voter’s Card but complained that the registration process was slow.

Another prospective voter, Miss Uchechukwu Obijiaku said she would have registered before now but for age limit.

She however called on INEC to introduce electronic voter register that would enable eligible voters to access their data and cast their votes in any part of the country rather than traveling to polling centres where their PVCs were registered.

The INEC Head of Voter Education and Publicity, Mr Andy Ezeani said three hundred and fifteen thousand voters had been registered in the state as at the end of July but lamented that collection of PVCs had been slow.

Reacting to the development, the State Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Senator Emmanuel Onwe explained that the State Executive Council had directed all public office holders in the State to visit their wards and sensitize the electorate to the need to obtain their PVCs.

Senator Onwe noted that the State Government was ready to support INEC to ensure that qualified residents of the state register ahead of General Election.

CORRESPONDENTS’ REPORT

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