BY MAIRIGA Juliana, Minna
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Niger state office said it has so far registered, 95, 434 eligible voters who are waiting for the final production and collection of their Permanent Voters’ Card (PVC) in the on-going Continuous Voters’ Registration.
The number according to the Resident Electoral Commissioner, Professor Sam Egwu comprises, 61, 687 males and 33, 747 females with the highest number of registered voters from Minna, the state capital, Suleja and few other commercial towns in the state.
Professor Egwu in an interview also said that besides the recognized 274 Wards where registration had commenced for the first quarter 2018 on the 8th of January, INEC headquarters approved that additional registration points be created to capture potential voters in Niger state.
“We have also been mandated to establish something like mobile registration centres in localities and settlements that so far from any of the approved Wards to ensure that as many eligible voters are not disenfranchised from participating in elections”, he said.
With the Continuous Voters Education and exercise, Egwu said the commission in the state is doing all that is legally possible as mandated by INEC headquarters, Abuja to ensure that the under-aged of yesterday who by virtue of having attained 18 years and above are captured.
The essence of the mobile registration centres to be improvised under the current first quarter, 2018, Egwu who however did not give the exact number of such mobile centres to be established explained is to ensure that settlements far from any of the 274 Wards registration centres are not disenfranchised.
“As at April last 2017 we have 33 centres in Niger state before the approval of 10 more. Today on the directives of INEC headquarters we are to generate more centres along communities and settlements that are far from places people would have ordinarily registered but couldn’t do because of distance”, he further explained.
Professor Egwu further explained that, some local government councils are more while others are less in numerical strength, this is part of the reasons we are to generate mobile registration centres to capture all eligible voters’ that could not reach any of the recognized centres ahead of the 2019 general elections.
Meanwhile, the INEC’s state Resident Electoral Commissioner has expressed reservations over ineptitude among eligible voters who after taking the pains to register never deemed it fit to come for the collection of their PVCs.
The Niger state REC, Professor Sam Egwu apparently collaborating apathy on election related issues by Nigerians due to fear that their votes were always not being counted said, “It is unfortunate that many of us only stop at registration, don’t come to collect our PVCs”.
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