VOTERS IN ANAMBRA AND ABIA STATES LAMENT DELAY IN REGISTRATION CENTERS

Continuous Voters’ Registration is a process designed by the Independent National Electoral Commission to register eligible citizens from the age of eighteen and above to participate in elections in the country. This process is currently on going in the country.

Radio Nigeria visited two INEC registration centers located within Awka South local Government area.

At Afor Agulu , Square Center , Agulu, some people were seen waiting patiently to be registered. One of them, Mr Christian Obiora who said the process was taking too long, expressed worry that such a situation could discourage other people from participating in the exercise. Also, at Government Technical College center, Awka, few people were seen in queues waiting to be registered.

One of them, Miss Joy Chibike said, the exercise was her first experience and that it was going-on smoothly. Radio Nigeria spoke with the INEC Head of Department, Voter Education and Publicity, Mr Leo Nkedife, on the exercise and he affirmed that the exercise would end on the seventeenth of this month. According to Mr. Nkedife, the commission had directed that the exercise should be carried out on daily basis including Saturdays and Sundays from nine o’clock in the morning to five o’clock in the evening.

He explained that the idea was to capture more eligible citizens for the forth-coming 2019 General election. Mr  Nkedife who said about one hundred and twenty thousand permanent voter’s cards were yet to be collected by their owners, pointed out that the collection of the cards would end on the eighth of February next year. Similarly in Abia state many residents of the state are yet to be registered.

Radio Nigeria visited one of the designated venues of the exercise at Adelabu Street, Umuahia North Local Government Area where large numbers of people were seen standing in a queue waiting to get registered by INEC officials. Some of them interviewed expressed satisfaction with the registration exercise but appealed for more logistics from the Commission to accelerate the process.

Efforts to speak with some of the INEC officials at the venue proved unsuccessful as they declined to comment. When contacted, the Resident Electoral Commissioner, INEC, Abia State, Dr Joseph Iloh said that the Commission had reinforced its logistics supply to ensure a smooth and free conduct of the exercise.

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