Kunle Adelabu
With two days to the closing of Permanent Voters’ Card (PVC) registration as stated by the electoral umpire, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), residents of Ikorodu who are yet to register have called for extension of the exercise.
They are also asking INEC to go back to the period when registration machines were made available at various wards, instead of centralisng the process at their office.
Hundreds of residents have been trooping to the INEC office at the Government Reserved Area (GRA), Ikorodu, since the commencement of the registration exercise to register but the process has not been easy for them.
Our reporter visited the electoral umpire’s office around 1pm on Thursday and witnessed how many residents were struggling to make last minute efforts to register while more people were still trooping in to register as our reporter was leaving the centre.
Many of them said that they arrived at the INEC office as early as 6am and met many at the GRA gate that had arrived before them and register their names as required but there is no progress.
A senior local government official who spoke with THE IMPACT, said that the process is too slow and expressed fear that many would not be registered if the exercise is not extended.
“I was here yesterday and today again without any success and as you can see, I am on my way out of this place”, he said.
“You needed to be here around 6am to see the large number of people outside the gate, that is when you will appreciate better the number of people struggling to register.
“I hope that they extend the exercise and make it easier for us to register if truly they want us to vote and change the system”, he said.
Mr Olaleye, a resident of Agbede Transformer in Ikorodu North LCDA, said that he has missed work for three days this week in his bid to register for the PVC but all to no avail.
He pleaded that the registration period should be extended to allow more Nigerians be able to exercise their civic rights.
“I have been asked to come back 6am tomorrow for the registration, but the problem is that I work daily to earn my livelihood and if I don’t go to work, how will I feed my family.Already, l have missed work for like three days this week in an attempt to do the registration”, he said.
“I have been asked to come tomorrow because the list is already occupied and there is no assurance that I will get it done because there will still be a lot of people here tomorrow. I don’t know what to do.
“They should please extend the deadline except they don’t want us to vote and exercise our civic rights, they should try and extend it”, he pleaded.
Another resident, Mrs Oyebanjo, also called for revert to the former way that was adopted years back that enabled many Nigerians to register.
“I really do not see how many Nigerians will be registered with the way the whole process is going. This is not just working at all. We have been abandoning out work to get the PVC but it has been annoying because I have been here since morning and this is about 2pm, yet, there is no sign that I will be attended to. Many had left in frustration”, she said.
“I don’t know why they cannot make available machines at every ward like it was done before. Many were coming from different parts of Ikorodu on daily basis without any sign that they would be registered before the deadline”.
John Mark, who said that he resides at Agric in Ikorodu West LCDA, said that the electoral commission should make the process more convenient for the people by decentralizing it.
“It’s so sad that there is no registration center at Agric and I had to come down from there to Ikorodu to register, They have to make this thing more convenient for us. I have been here for almost three hours”, he lamented.
“I wish there is a way that they could create centres at Agric for us to register easily”.
He queried the decision to close the registration when, according to him, the process has not made many to register.
“How would they close the registration on Sunday? I can’t fathom that. You can take a look around to see if they can get all these people sorted in two days. You can’t get all these done.
“I feel that it’s essential to give more time for the registration. A month or two more extension would be okay”, he said.
