The Presidential Candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Nuhu Ribadu, has asked the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to ensure that the April general elections are free and fair.
Mr. Ribadu, who spoke to journalists, yesterday, during an inspection of some voter registration centres in Abuja, said INEC must assure Nigerians that the era of election rigging is over. “I want INEC to convincingly tell Nigerians that the era of double voting is over. They must tell Nigerians that this administration is different from what it used to be known for and that there will not be any fraudulent act this time around,” he said.
On the on-going voter registration, Mr Ribadu said the electoral body must ensure that every single Nigerian gets registered. While talking about the problems encountered by INEC in the on going voter registration exercise, Mr Ribadu urged the prospective voters to be patient and courageous “if you don’t register, you will not get good leaders and if you don’t get good leaders, you will not have stable electricity, good roads and other infrastructural developments. And for registration officers, of course there are challenges but the ability to solve this is the most important thing.” He added.
Meanwhile, residents of the Federal Capital Territory have continued to be apprehensive about the registration exercise. Hafsat Bukoye, an accountant at Adelodun Adebayo Law Firm at Wuse 2, said she has been coming to the AP Plaza Registration Centre to get registered for more than five days. She urged the Federal Government to declare a public holiday for workers and extend the registration period.
At the Rock View Hotel registration centre, John James, who works with CRI Rescue Medical Clinic at Wuse 2, said it will be impossible for INEC to capture all would-be voters with the situation on ground, saying that “INEC should add more days to enable all eligible voters register.”
Not our fault
An INEC registration officer, Ugada Raymond, said due to the logistic challenges being faced, the seven days added might not be practicable.
“At times we lack the ink, and the finger print scanner often works very slowly making the pace of work inefficient. So, I don’t think the seven days will be enough,” he said.
Corroborating Mr Raymond’s statement, Ehighator Nosa, another registration officer at AP Plaza said: “The turn-out of intending voters on daily basis is higher and the machine is not working well, the printer is not working well and the computer after sometimes usually shut down.”
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