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…says online registration may disenfranchise Nigerians
The House of Representatives has asked the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to immediately begin physical registration of eligible voters across the country as the ongoing online registration was not achieving the purpose for which it was intended.
The House also said that the commission should ensure that no voting centre is abolished, while new ones should be located in areas with adequate security like schools rather than along road junctions that are not safe for the electorates.
In its resolution following a motion by Rep. Abubakar Makki Yalleman (APC, Jigawa), the House asked the Electoral body to extend the period of voter registration, saying if allowed to continue the way it is, the current online registration has the capacity to disenfranchise many eligible voters.
Rep. Yusuf Adamu Gagdi said many people living in the rural area are not able to register online as a result of epileptic network, pointing out that only about 10 percent of his people have access to the internet.
He said INEC should use enumerators to capture eligible Nigerian in other to ensure that no Nigerian is disenfranchised, adding that allowing only online registration would amount to denying eligible Nigerians the opportunity to cast their vote in 2023.
He said that since the last election, there has been many Nigerians who have turned 18 and eligible to register, stressing that the process of online registration has been cumbersome.
Chief Whip of the House, Rep. Mohammed Tahir Mongunu described the motion as a pan Nigerian motion, pointing out that in some parts of the country, telecommunications services has been destroyed by bandits and using technology in such area may not achieve the purpose of voter registration.
Rep. Aniekan Ummanah said that beyond the proposal for online registration of voters, the commission should conduct physical registration of eligible voters in all constituencies across the country.
He said even though the online registration was designed to be a seamless exercise, difficulties in internet services and the limited number of INEC registration offices in the local government areas has made it difficult for Nigerians to register.
He said more facilities and staff should also be provided in the INEC offices while steps should be taken to ensure that what Nigerians want is what is carried out.
Rep. Mariam Odinaka Onuoha said the Commission should carry out a more comprehensive aware and advocacy, while deploying more facilities to ensure smooth registration.
Rep. Beni Lar stressed the difficulty being faced in the various constituencies, saying it was expedient for the commission to extend the period of registration to ensure that nobody is denied his constitutional right.
She also said that the Commission should be made to make a monthly submission of registered voters to the House Committee on Electoral matters.
Moving the motion earlier, Rep Yalleman said that in carrying out one of its constitutional
duties, INEC has put in place machinery for the virtual Continuous Voters Registration (CVR), which has been ongoing.
He said Nigerians across all all Federal Constituencies have been placed at a disadvantaged position due to non-availability of Registration centers and officials, inadequate power supply, insufficient operational tools and equipment as well as inadequate enlightenment program leading to low figure recorded within the constituencies.
He said if the voter’s registration exercise is concluded without addressing the above-mentioned challenges, thousands of potential voters in Nigeria will be disenfranchised during the forthcoming elections.
He said given current realities in the Constituency, INEC may need to engage in both physical and virtual processes by introducing physical enumerators to make up for the lapses in the online registration exercise.