POLITICS

Voter registration, basis of democratic franchise — INEC

February 22, 2022

Independent Electoral Commission, INEC, Tuesday, told stakeholders to show more commitment and interest in matters as crucial as voter registration, which forms the basis of a democratic franchise.

The Delta State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Rev Monday Udoh Tom, who stated this in Asaba during a press conference, said; “the ongoing voter registration will benefit the state, it is not a partisan affair. It should therefore be seen in the light of what is good for Delta State, irrespective of party affiliation.

“It is important to inform Deltans that, the current figure of 442,672 online registration and 188, 919 completed registration, as of February 21, 2022, in our view does not represent the full potentials of the number of eligible citizens that should be on the national voters roll.

“We are aware that, many reasons, including terrain, distance from the current registration centres, among others, may have accounted for the current level of registration, which by any standard is considered abysmal.

“However, before the formal take-off of the devolution to these centres, the Commission is planning to conduct Fed. Constituency CVR Townhall Meeting/Clinic in the 10 Federal Constituencies across Delta State, intended to bring together stakeholders in clusters of LGAs within each Federal Constituency, under one roof to explain better details of the devolution of CVR to the centres.

“Hopefully, the Townhall meetings will help to answer questions and concerns of stakeholders on the ongoing exercise, as well as engender robust response by stakeholders to take the message of mobilizing eligible registrants to the nook and cranny of Delta State.

“We are using this medium to invite all citizens from every walk of life to attend the Townhall Meeting under their Federal Constituency, particularly, so as to avert the situation that occurred during the exercise to convert qualified Voting Points to polling units, in order to expand access to polling units in future elections, where only a negligible number of stakeholders honoured the Commission’s invitation to stakeholders meeting at both the State and LGA level.

“But after the exercise was concluded and the new polling units approved by the Commission, our offices were overwhelmed by appeals and petitions requesting reconsideration of most of the location of the Polling Units, of course, it had become too late at the time”.