*begins fresh voter registration
By; Patrick Titus, Uyo
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Akwa Ibom State has disclosed that it has in its possession 21,651 unclaimed Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) from the last voters registration exercise.
State’s Administrative Secretary of the Commission, Mr. Owhor Nathan, who stated this during the flag-off of the Continuous Voters Registration (CVR), urged those who had participated in the last exercise but did not collect their PVC to visit INEC office for collection.
He advised voters who could not register in the last exercise as well as those who recently turned 18 years of age after last registration exercise to take advantage of the CVR and register.
Others eligible to participate in the process include; voters who have Temporary Voters Card (TVC) but their names were omitted in the register of voters as at last exercise; Persons who had earlier registered and want to collect their Permanent Voters Cards (PVC) or have issues with their PVC.
Those seeking transfer of registration due to relocation, should apply to the INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner of the State he/she is residing in through their electoral Officer, stating their current address and phone numbers as well as attach photocopy of their PVC.
However, Nathan said, “For citizens to be eligible for fresh registration, they must reside, work in or originate from the registration area covered by the registration area centre they intend to register in.
In addition, they must not be subjected to legal incapacity to vote under any law, rules or regulations in force in Nigeria. They must present themselves to the CVR officers for registration and be able to provide proof of Identity, age and nationality if requested, he stated.
The national commissioner supervising the South-South zone, Mr. MohammedLecky urged voters to come out themselves to participate in the exercise as no registration would be allowed on proxy.
He also warned against multiple registrations, saying that anyone caught doing so would be made to face the law.
Lecky, who was represented by the Administrative Secretary, Nathan, explained that a team of four registration area officers and a distribution officer would be mobilized at the 31 local government area offices in the state, a measure he said, would facilitate the successful conduct of the exercise.
“The team will have two Direct Data Capturing Machines (DDCMs), one for data capturing and the other will be used as back-up. Laptop will also be provided to host the current National Register of Voters in a searchable PDF format.
“The preliminary Register of Voters will be displayed for the public scrutiny at the registration centres at the end of every quarter before the printing of the PVCs commenced”, he explained.
Meanwhile, Commissioner of Police in the state, CP Don Awunah has pledged to ensure adequate security during the voter registration exercise in the state, just as the State Government has also promised to partner the Commission to ensure expected success.
