As the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC wraps up the continuous voter registration across the country; some Nigerians have appealed for a one-week extension to enhance the completion of the process.
The people appealed in separate interviews with Voice of Nigeria at the INEC office in Calabar, the Cross River State capital, south-south Nigeria where several registration units were set up to speed up the process.
The respondents, who commended INEC for establishing additional registration centres across the state to enable more people to register, complained that the centres were not adequate to cater to the crowd of persons seeking to register.
Priscilla Antia, a Nigerian respondent, said, “although I just turned 18 years, I got here today to pick the form.
“I hope I will complete the process today. I would not come for this at all, but after listening to the announcement on the radio while in the car with my mother, she asked me to get my PVC.
“At first, I was worried about the crowd, but since I have gotten the form, I think it is worth it.
“I would like to vote, and getting this would ensure I vote. Somehow, I appreciate INEC for the effort, but the number of people here is too much, and they may not finish with most of us today considering that we have been here since morning,” she said.
Another respondent, Affiong Mesembe, lamented, “I had been coming here since Monday last week, and it was impossible to get the form until today.
“I came here in the morning instead of going to church, the crowd here is too much, and it has not been easy.
“We cannot find these INEC registration people where we live, so if they had like registration centres in most places, people would not be struggling and getting discouraged.
“I just got the form, and it is already past 4 o’clock; I wish INEC will give those of us that have collected the form time to come tomorrow or better still let us use this week to complete our registration. I hope they give us that time,” Mesembe hoped.
A few others, who have completed the registration process, like Mr. Yinka Ashiribo and Mr. Ofem Eteng, were grateful that their patience paid off despite the crowd.
According to Eteng, “although I had the voters’ card before, it got lost on transit and frankly speaking, when this process started, I took it for granted.
“But, when I keep hearing the jingles on television, radio, and everywhere especially in the church when the pastor announced it, I was perturbed.
My conscience kept judging me, and immediately after service, I came here, and behold, I am at the finishing point,” he stated excitedly.
On his part, Ashiribo said, “the experience so far has been fine. I came here immediately after the first church service; I got the form and just finished doing my registration. All I am waiting for is to get the printout and hope for a better Nigeria.”
The one-year-long Continuous Voter Registration exercise, which was supposed to end last June 30, 2022, was extended to July 31, 2022, following several appeals from Nigerians to enable more people to register.
S.O
