Enugu – Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has denied the allegation by Ohanaeze Ndigbo that it wants to disenfranchise the people of the South East in the 2019 general elections.
While receiving Emeka Ononamadu, the Enugu State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), earlier this week, John Nwodo (Jnr.), the president-general of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, accused INEC of a deliberate plot to disenfranchise Ndigbo by under-registering them in the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise.
Responding at an interactive session with the media, political parties and civil society organisations of Friday in Enugu, Professor Okechukwu Ibeanu, the INEC national commissioner in charge of the South East, said there was no attempt to under-register any state.
Speaking after commissioning an ICT/CVR/Staff Training Centre and Crèche at INEC Headquarters Enugu, Ibeanu said contrary to the allegation of under-registration in the South East, a state like Enugu was performing better than Northern states in the ongoing CVR exercise.
According to the national commissioner, as the 2019 election approaches, some people become touchy, but called for caution to avoid unnecessary anxiety.
“There is no attempt to under-register any state, not to talk of Enugu State. I cannot sit here when there will be an attempt to under-register a state where I have lived all my life.
“There was initial deployment to the local government areas, 17 of them in Enugu State. We were to have registration continuously at the local government level. It means that Enugu had 17 centres. Within the first quarter, there were complaints about people not being reached and people not being served.
“We increased our registration centres and added seven registration centres in the state. That improved the registration. People said 25 was not enough and we added 10 more centres. The process is ongoing. It will continue to be open.
“Right now, we have 35 centres across the state. We have also made it possible for the machines to be rotated. They are moved from one place to another. I can assure you that we are going to do everything to make sure that everybody willing to register has opportunity,” he said.
Ibeanu noted that “the Electoral Act gives the commission powers to publish the voters register within 60 days of the New Year, which INEC did a few days ago and looking at the figures, Enugu was one of the best performing, as it registered more than any other state in the North.”
Before commissioning the ICT/CVR/Staff Training Centre and Crèche, Ibeanu praised the staff of the commission in Enugu for the achievements and expressed hope that it would ginger them to stay focused ahead of 2019 elections.
He reminded them that they would not be judged by the crèche that was built, but by the quality of election they delivered in 2019.
Earlier in an opening address, Ononamadu had assured that the successes they recorded in the CVR in Enugu and general staff output would surely increase with the completion and utilisation of this CVR and crèche.
The post 2019: No Attempt To Disenfranchise S’East – INEC appeared first on Independent Newspapers Nigeria.
Source: Daily Independent
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Title :
2019: No Attempt To Disenfranchise S’East – INEC
Description : Enugu – Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has denied the allegation by Ohanaeze Ndigbo that it wants to disenfranchise the...
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