Chief Godson Ezenagu, the Chairman, Anambra State Housing Development Corporation (ASHDC), has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to make registration of voters a continuous exercise.
Ezenagu said this on Wednesday in Awka that several people might be denied the opportunity to vote in the Nov. 18 governorship election due to the hiccups associated with the exercise.
He noted that making the registration a continuous and regular exercise would curb electoral irregularities and enhance massive participation of the people in the electoral process.
“My findings at Mgbakwu area in Awka North Local Government Area, shows that a lot of people, who are of voting age will be denied the opportunity to vote because they were unable to obtain the voters’ card.
“The relevant authorities should consider this adjustment in the near future because that will make eligible people especially who turned 18 years to register and participate in the elections.
“The imperative of this is that people will go for INEC registration at a more convenient time rather than being compelled to get registered within the stipulated time, which may disenfranchise many,’’ he said.
He also called on the commission to address the problem of malfunctioning capturing machines before the conduct of the Nov. 18 gubernatorial election.
Ezenagu regretted that the machines deployed to register big communities had few functional machines for the registration.
INEC ended the voter’s registration exercise on Aug. 15 ahead of the Nov.18 governorship election in Anambra.
Findings in some communities as Enugwu-Ukwu, Awka North, Awka South, Onitsha and Orumba, showed that eligible voters could not register due to faulty machines and other logistic problems.
NAN
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