INEC decries low voter registration in Enugu

 

By Cosmas Chukwu

 

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has described as abysmal, the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) figures recorded in Enugu

The state has as at January 31, this year, only recorded 38,772 fresh online voters registration; while only 28,992 people have fully completed the online and physical capturing of the CVR.

 

The INEC-CVR, which commenced on June 28, 2021, has been holding from Monday to Friday between 9.00a.m. and 3.00p.m. daily in CVR registration centres in INEC state offices and LGC offices.

 

The state’s INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Dr Emeka Ononamadu, told newsmen on Monday in Enugu that the commission had made all humanly possible efforts to mobilise residents of the state for the CVR exercise, but it had all proved futile.

 

“INEC has mounted aggressive publicity of CVR in Enugu State, but the turnout is still low,” Ononamadu said.

 

The REC appealed to eligible residents to use the opportunity of the CVR to obtain their Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) to have the power to elect their representatives in up-coming elections.

 

“Votes count. If you still doubt that votes count, go and ask those who threatened to buy it why they have such difficult dreams of getting people to vote for them.

 

“I am optimistic that what INEC has done in the couple of years past has recouped any real or apparent citizens’ power that appears to have been tampered with before this new era,” he said.

 

Ononamadu, however, debunked the wide spread rumour that old PVCs had expired.

 

He said: “There is a rumour going round that old PVCs expire. It is not true. PVCs do not expire.

 

“You can only come for replacement of damaged, lost or misplaced PVCs.

 

“I am warning eligible people in the South-East to avoid last minute rush. A stitch in time saves nine”.

 

The REC also urged the newly elected Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) leadership in Enugu State to join INEC to educate and mobilise residents to come out en mass to register.

 

He noted: “Registration of voters is free and made seamless (stress-free) with the help of newly deployed INEC technology”.

 

Meanwhile, INEC says fresh registration in the ongoing nationwide CVR hit 5,353,744 on Monday.

 

The commission disclosed this in its weekly update on the Quarter 3 week 4 in Abuja on Monday.

 

INEC also disclosed that 2,805,089 registrants had completed online and physical registration, of which 1,148,631 did online and 1,656,458 did physical registration.

 

It added that gender distribution of the registrants who had completed the registration process revealed that 1,414,675 were male and 1,390,414 were female, while 25,523 of the registrants were Persons with Disabilities

The update disclosed that INEC received 8,919,606 applications for voter transfer, requests for replacement of Permanent Voter Cards, update of voter information record, etc