The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC in Gombe State has promised the deployment of its personnel to the various registration areas in the villages to capture people with no access to the internet and those who cannot access the centres in their local government headquarters.
Speaking with Voice of Nigeria on the resumption of the second quarter of the Continues Voter Registration, CVR, the INEC Public Affairs Officer in Gombe State, Mr. Mohoret Emmanuel Begun said the process had so far been very successful and encouraging.
Mr. Begun said there was no reason to worry about those in the rural areas, who did not have internet or lack access to the centres, because provision was being made for rotational centres to reach them at the grassroots.
“So, they need not worry, even the fact that there is no internet doesn’t matter because the device is input with a software that can capture registrants and then upload it to INEC Saver when they get to a network area. So, very soon, that concern will be taken care of,” said Mr. Begun.
He said there was enough time left, about 8 months, before the final suspension of the Continues Voter Registration, CVR, which would continue up to June 2022.
“So, we still have lots of time, about 8 months from now and I believe by God’s Grace, we should be able to capture all prospective registrants and then those who also wish to transfer or correct their information would be able to do that within that timeframe,” said Mr. Begun.
Assessing the progress made in the first quarter of the CVR in Gombe State, Mr. Begun said when it was rounded off on September 21, about 15 thousand people successfully completed their registration, while 50 thousand people did the online per-registration.
He said the first quarter was rounded off in order to give room for the display of the Preliminary Register of Voters and for claims and objections.
According to the INEC Public Affairs Officer in Gombe State, at the resumption of the Second Quarter of the Continues Voter Registration on Monday, October 4, 2021, the turn-out has been very impressive.
“You can see that we have so many people here in the centre who are eager to register,” said Mr. Begun.
Overall, he said the deployment of technology into the electoral process had helped in reducing crowds at the registration centres and also make the process faster, where people could now do online pre-registration, schedule appointments for new registrants before coming to the centre for biometric capture.
“Once a new registrant registers online, when he comes to the centre for biometric capture, it takes less than two minutes. And then the other components also, the transfer from one polling unit to the other, or from one state to the other, information update, request for lost or defaced Permanent Voter’s Card, all these can be done online and so many people have taken advantage of that and it has really enhanced the process,” said Mr. Begun.
He said the commission was taking steps to sensitise the public in Gombe State but that the presence of the people at the centre attested to the fact that the awareness already created had made a significant impact.
Mr. Begun, however, said the challenge the commission was having was the issue of poor literacy in the use of the internet, wishing that people would take advantage of the online pre-registration, pre-register and then just go for the biometric capture at the centre.
In the meantime, some of those who had gone through the process of the online registration praised it, told Voice of Nigeria that they were impressed with the process because it was being done under a conducive atmosphere.
For Ibrahim Saleh, the process of getting registered had been simplified for the potential voters.
“If you had done the preregistration first and come to the INEC Centre for registration, it will take about three to four minutes to complete the registration. This one is faster than the previous form of registration. The only challenge is that people are not literate about the online registration, but it is very simple, it’s easier,” said Saleh.
For Mrs. Aisha Musta, progress has been made in this regard.
Great advancement has been made with this new initiative. Indeed, the new procedure is really very good,” said Mrs. Mustapha.
Also, Mrs. Aishatu Mohammed, said the progress was so impressive and fast.
“Truly, it’s good. We thank God because it’s been done beautifully and fast, with no difficulties whatsoever. Moreover, we are all under a shade,” Mrs. Mohammed said.
However, for Yusuf Mohammed, it didn’t take him long to do the pre-registration, through his android phone, but that due to network issues, the process takes longer time to get registered and that people were finding it difficult to trek long distances, only to be made to wait a long time before getting registered.
“The previous arrangement was that the polling unit nearest to voters was used for registration, that way, people did not need to leave their area before getting registered. But now, after being given appointment, you will wait for a long time before you get registered. Some because of the long wait just decided to abandon the whole process and leave. I wish the old method will be used instead,” said Mr. Mohammed.
