Voter Registration Extension: INEC Deploys More Personnel In Benue
From Msughshima Andrew, Makurdi
Following the two weeks extension of voter registration in the country ahead of the 2019 general elections, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has deployed more staffs to the field in Benue.
The Director Voter Education and Publicity, INEC Makurdi, Mr Emmanuel Okpe, says the commission has deployed more staffs including corps members to complement the others in local governments in order to reduce the challenges faced by the staff due to the surge.
Speaking to 247ureports in his office, Mr Okpe also stated that since the beginning of the new voters registration, about 486, 000 from April 2017 to date.
He expressed hope that by the time the exercise will be rounding up, Benue will have an additional 600 people to be registered.
According to him, before the commencement ofte new registration, INEC had about 279935 PVC from 2015 and 2017 registration. “Out of this number, 34,849 cards have been collected so far leaving 245,086 uncollected PVCs as at 13th August, 2018.
He advised those who are yet to collect their temporary voters card to endeavor to come forward and collect theirs, saying “It is important for the new registrars to have this temporary one so that when the registration is over, they can get their permanent voters card on time.
“We have also embarked on awareness campaign to educate market women on the need to register so that no one will be left out.”
It is gathered that there has been last minute rush by residents in Benue state due to the two weeks period extension.
Our correspondent who went round the registration centres in town observed that many residents have been trooping out in large numbers to the centers in Makurdi metropolis to register.
They have however expressed dissatisfaction over the process and the number of hours wasted on queues before one is attended to.
Student and Agaba Oche, Geoffrey Anyam, who came for registration said they have spent hours on queue unattended to and called the commission to deploy more personnel and machines to ease some of the challenges arising from the extension of time.
While the registration process for the permanent voters’ card was ongoing, some persons were also making effort to collect their temporary voters’ card amid difficulty as many of the cards were all over the floor.
A youth corps member, Eunice Ayinbe said they are going through difficulties searching for their temporary card on the floor saying “it is hectic and could discourage a lot of people from coming for the cards.
They called on the commission to ensure a more organized way of distributing the cards to their owners to prevent damages of the cards.
