The epileptic commencement of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) ongoing voters’ registration exercise nationwide has been described as a failure and an attempt to manipulate the 2011 general elections.
The epileptic commencement of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) ongoing voters’ registration exercise nationwide has been described as a failure and an attempt to manipulate the 2011 general elections.
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National Youth Leader of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Malam Abubakar Maikudi, gave this warning while speaking to newsmen yesterday at the party’s headquarters in Abuja alleging that INEC was creating a loophole for PDP to rig the April elections.
This he said, if allowed, will spell doom for the country.
Maikudi who expressed bitterness on the way and manner the electoral governing body is handling the registration exercise, noted that if urgent step is not taken to address the issue of malfunctioning of most of the Direct Data Capturing Machine (DDCM), then majority of Nigerians would at the end of the day be disenfranchised.
The youth leader therefore, called for seriousness on the part of INEC to ensure that every eligible voter is properly registered before the closing of the exercise.
He said INEC has all the time to prepare both its in-house and the ad-hoc staff before fully embarking on the exercise,” yet all we are hearing are excuses”.
While registering his disappointment at the level of registered voters, he said the two weeks timeframe for the exercise has already been tempered with and therefore called for extension of time to ensure a successful exercise all over the federation.
He said “the Sim Cards registration exercise carried out by GSM service providers like MTN, Globacom, Airtel and Etisalat is the same thing with the INEC’s voters’ registration why is it been difficult for the machine to capture fingers print; this is just a gambit by the ruling party to rig the upcoming general elections “but it can’t work.”
“Most of the corp members that were deployed as registration officers were those that did not receive the formal training for the exercise instead of those that were trained by the commission and that is the more reason most of the they are finding it difficult to register voters within a stipulated time,” he said.
You can fool some people for some time but you cannot fool all the people at the same time, INEC have no excuse it’s shameful, “we cannot be manipulated,” he added.
He demanded to know what happens to some number of the Direct Capturing Machine (DDCM) INEC said were yet to arrive, he said.
Maikudi said Nigerians have made a very huge sacrifice at ensuring the success of this exercise saying “the N86 billion expended for this exercise can go far at stabilizing the power situation in the country.
However, the youths leader urged youths nationwide not to be discouraged by the shaky mode of the exercise but be patient and ensure they all registered accordingly.
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