By Augustine Osayande
The Senate on Wednesday has asked the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to decentralize the Continuous Voter’s Registration (CVR) exercise and conduct it on ward basis.
Due to some technical issues associated with the ongoing exercise, the Upper Chamber of the National Assembly also urged INEC to undertake the CVR exercise on a continuing and permanent basis in the respective Polling Unit until all prospective voters are registered.
They mandated the Senate committee on INEC to monitor the exercise and report progress and challenges periodically to the Senate. The resolution follows a motion sponsored by Senator Godswill Akpabio (Akwa-Ibom, North West).
Akpabio noted that the ongoing CVR exercise in all INEC offices in the 774 Local Government Areas has been faced with several challenges across the country. “The exercise has been faced with malfunctioning of the Direct Data Capturing Machine, non-availability of machines in some Local Government Areas, slowness of Direct Data Capturing Machine, inadequate man power and inaccessibility of registration centers from prospective registrants especially those residing in the rural areas.”
He further stated that the challenges are worse in states like Akwa-Ibom, Anambra and Osun where only 30 voters are being registered per day in each Local Government with over 10 wards. “Governorship election will be taking place in Osun State in June 2018 and these challenges if not tackled will jeopardize or make the election less credible if urgent steps are not taken,” Akpabio said.
While seconding the motion, Senator Olamilekon Solomon commended Senator Akpabio for coming with the motion at appropriate time. He described the current CVR as an exercise in shambles. He added that INEC is not ready for the exercise and urged the commission to put its house in order.
