Deploy more registration machines in each South East council, COSEYL tells INEC

Laments sufferings encountered by registrants

The Coalition of South East Youth Leaders (COSEYL) has urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deploy, at least, 100 registration machines to each local council in the South East as a way of hastening the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise.

In a statement issued, yesterday, by the President General of the apex body of the youths in the zone, Goodluck Ibem, the group said, after touring the councils, it discovered many willing registrants find it difficult to access the councils daily without success.

The statement said: “COSEYL, the umbrella body of all the youth groups in the South East, after visiting voter registration centres in many local councils in the region, is calling on the Chairman of INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, to provide, at least, 100 computers in each of the local councils in the zone, as well as take the exercise to voting units and centres to alleviate hardship and suffering being experienced by Nigerians in the process.”

COSEYL wondered how two machines could serve the huge number of people clamouring to be captured, explaining: “Since the voter registration exercise commenced for the 2023 general elections, local council INEC offices have been the only registration points for the exercise, which have made it difficult for Nigerians in the South East to register for their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs).”

Recounting the ordeal intending registrants go through, the group lamented: “Huge number of Nigerians going to INEC offices to participate in the voter registration exercise every day, which is the only place you can register for the PVC, can’t register due to inadequate equipment to hasten the exercise.

Some of them have been paying the high transport fares to INEC offices for over a month now without success.”

The statement gave figures to buttress its assumption: “The INEC office has only 2 computers for voter registration and one computer can register only 60 persons per day when we have over 700 persons on the ground, who came to be registered. The situation is worrisome and something urgent should be done to address the anomaly.”