The Independent
National Electoral Commission in Ondo State yesterday said that it has
registered over 600,000 voters since the exercise started on January
15. The commission also said that it has received an additional 527
Direct Data Capturing machines to address the hitches being recorded in
the exercise. The administrative secretary of the commission, Folarin
Awujoola, said this in a briefing with journalists yesterday in Akure,
adding that the commission had addressed the hitches experienced in the
first two days of the exercise.
Mr. Awujoola said
that the latest consignment of 527 DDC machines were in addition to 918
machines earlier received by the commission. He also promised that the
commission would fix the tardiness problem by officials in charge of
the registration exercise. However, despite the additional DDC
machines, some aggrieved communities in Akure South Local Government
Area of the state have staged a protest against what they described as
the non-availability of machines to register them in the exercise. The
communities — Esure, Ologede, Kajola and Ilula in the Oda area of Akure
— urged INEC to allocate more DDC machines to the area in order not to
disenfranchise thousands of voters. They noted that the lack of
registration centres and the absence of the machines had made it
difficult for them to participate in the ongoing registration exercise.
Their spokesman, Sunday Fakunle, expressed displeasure over the failure
of INEC to address the non-availability of registration centres in the
area. Mr. Fakunle added that despite the complaints made to INEC, the
lapses have not been corrected to ensure that people living in the area
are registered.
He said: “We have
done everything possible to get our people registered but the electoral
body has not responded to our plea. We are bonafide citizens of this
country, it is wrong for INEC to deny us of our fundamental right.
“We want the commission to create more registration centres and
provide all the necessary materials to enhance registration in our
areas, so that people can take the first step towards voting.”
