CVR: Youths besiege registration centres in Ondo

By Jubril Bada & Babatunde Ayedoju
|
The Ondo State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mrs. Oluwatoyin Babalola, said the Commission has deployed more machines, technical support and staffers to beef up the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) in the State.
She stated this yesterday during an interview with The Hope in Akure, following report of massive turn out of youths in the state for the exercise.
The exercise, which commenced on Monday, May 27, will end on June 5, 2024.
The Hope gathered that since the registration started the various registration centres across Akure , the state capital were overcrowded with prospective registrants, mostly youths.
The overcrowded centres were due to the malfunctioning of the INEC Voter Enrollment Device (IVED).
However, the State REC disclosed that measures have been put in place to màke the exercise hitch free. According to her, the commission had deployed over 400 trained staff and a technical support staff for each of the 18 local government areas and senatorial districts in the State.
She said there are more than enough functional machines for the exercise. “We have 210 centres in various wards across the state. We have recruited over 400 staff who are well trained. We also have technical support staff in all the local government areas and senatorial districts to attend to technical issues that may arise during the registration exercise.
We have so far registered 1424 people, including 12 people with disabilities, within the first 24 hours of the continuous voters registration, and I have been receiving reports from all the units.. The INEC boss admonished eligible citizens to participate in the registration exercise in the early stage, to avoid late hour rush, adding that registration process is fast and there are enough machines for all the registration centres in the state.
She also said that the Commission had emplaced necessary measures to checkmate multiple registration, stressing that it attracts a fine of N100,000 or one year imprisonment or both.
Ahead of the forthcoming November 16 governorship election in the State, Mrs. Babalola also said that the commission was fully ready for a free and fair election, saying, “Election is not a one-day event. The moment you end an election, you start planning for the next. All the needed arrangements for the governorship election are ongoing.
“To the people, I admonish them to come and take advantage of this opportunity to pick up their PVCs. Your card is your power. The political class should mobilise their people to come out and vote. Our elections are free, fair, credible and all inclusive.”
During visits to some registration points, including St. Stephen’s Primary School, Ijomu, Akure, and St. Anthony Primary School, Araromi, Akure yesterday, The Hope gathered that registrants were queuing to register, replace lost cards, or transfer their voting locations.
In an interview with The Hope, a resident, Mr. Adebayo Ayodele commended the Independent National Electoral Commission for the peaceful process, though with little challenge due to bad network.
He explained that the second day of the exercise (Tuesday) witnessed a large number of registrants.
The registrants, who were over 150, put their names down on Monday and could not get registered. They were the first to be attended to today (Tuesday) before attending to the freshers.
Ayodele appealed to the INEC to deploy more BVAS machines to each ward to fast-track the process.
“With the current situation, the commission has to redouble its efforts to meet up with the registration within the 10 days scheduled for the exercise,” he said.
The INEC Registration Officer at St. Anthony Primary School, Araromi, Akure, Mr. Adebayo Ayodeji, said the process was peaceful as the registrants came out en masse for the exercise.
According to him, the exercise, which started yesterday, experienced little challenge as the BVAS machine could not function well due to the network.”