INEC Moves to Eliminate Hitches

thisday, Kunle

 

As the voter registration commenced on a shaky start last Saturday, Independent National Electoral Commi-ssion (INEC) has said it has taken concrete measures to eliminate the hitches noticed in the exercise.

This comes as attempts by the Senate President David Mark to register in his ward I Oturkpo, Benue State yesterday were futile as the equipment used by INEC did not function.

In a statement by the Chief Press Secretary to INEC chairman, Mr. Kayode Idowu, the commission said it was addressing the technical challenges that hampered the fingerprints capture and thereby slowed down the exercise in some registration units across the country.

The new measures being introduced, the statement said, would remarkably speed up the process of registering eligible voters.

Also, INEC said many more thousands of Direct Data Capture (DDC) machines had been deployed in the last 24 hours to registration units that were not covered at the commencement of the exercise. According to the statement, "This will continue until all the registration centres are provided with DDCMs in the next few days.

"Much as the commission is addressing the technical issues, it hereby calls on all potential registrants to wash their hands thoroughly with water before coming for the exercise as dirty or oily fingers would hamper the capture of fingerprints."

The commission pleads with Nigerians for patience as it fine-tunes the processes involved in the 15-day exercise.

"INEC hereby restates its appreciation of the massive turnout by citizens to register, as a necessary step towards exercising their civic right to vote in coming elections," it said.

According to INEC, with the voter registration still running until January 29, 2011, it is believed that the delay so far experienced in the process would be eliminated.

The commission also reassures Nigerians that all eligible voters who turn out to be registered within the specified time would have the opportunity to do so.

Mark, accompanied by his wife, Helen, arrived at the registration centre at 10am and waited in vain till 1pm when he was advised to go home and return later.

About 4pm, the Senate President and his wife returned to the venue and made spirited efforts to register but the INEC machine disappointed again.

An embarrassed Mark then told INEC pointedly to put its house in order if the exercise is to be successful.

He said: "I have made spirited efforts to register to no avail. I went to the registration centre about 10am. I waited for more than two hours and nobody could be registered. I returned at about 4pm, yet nothing could be done.

"INEC must put its house in order; otherwise, this whole exercise would be in jeopardy. We cannot afford anything that would threaten the conduct of the forthcoming elections. INEC must sit up and save us this embarrassment."

The Senate President alerted that reports reaching him from the entire senatorial district indicate that the INEC machines are not functioning and that the situation is raising anxiety among the populace.

Later in the evening, the INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner in Benue State, Alhaji Nasiru Ailara, stormed the Oturkpo residence of the Senate president to plead with him over the shortcoming and promised that it would be ratified today.

Ailara stated that the commission had identified the problem and provided new software that would correct the mistake, adding, "We have identified the problem, and provided a solution with new software that would address the problem. Please accept our apology for inconveniences."