Enugu Residents Fund Voters Registration

Controversy is still trailing the on-going INEC Voters Registration  exercise as eligible voters in Enugu the capital city of Enugu Sate, and environs now contribute between N100 to N200 to INEC registration officers for the purchase of registration materials, especially ink and papers.

At Bigard Memorial Seminary registration centre, located at Zik Avenue, Enugu, the situation was not different; only Youth Corps member was present when The Tide visited the place, while a total of four non-functional DDC machines were seen packed idle at the centre.

Speaking with The Tide a corps member who spoke on condition of anonymity said, “we have not worked for the past three days now due to non-availability of ink and paper.

We have communicated the appropriate authorities, yet nothing has been done about the development. You can see that it is not our fault”.

The Corp member, who expressed dismay over the worrisome trend, further revealed that the development was not peculiar to the Bigard registration centre.

According to him almost all the centres in the state are experiencing the same problem.

Do you know that even we, the corps members doing this assignment, have not been paid by government.

At the popular Obiagu Road Primary School registration centre, also in the state capital, it was also the same sad story as the INEC officers deployed to the are for the exercise was seen relaxing and busy discussing.

On why they were idle, one of them declared, “we don’t have ink and papers in the machines, and moreover, some of our machines have developed fault. But please, don’t quote me”, she pleaded.

Some of the eligible voters interviewed expressed total disappointment over the  non-availability of registration materials in most of the centres in Enugu and called on INEC to make the needed materials available to enable thousands of eligible thousands of eligible voters exercise their civic responsibility.

According to them, the extension of registration period might not be the solution unless all the needed registration materials are made available by INEC.

When contacted the Enugu State Resident Electoral Commissioner, (REC), Mr Josiah Uwazuruonye said he was not aware that some centres have not been working due to lack of materials.

He, however, promised to look into the issue without delay with a view to ensuring that all eligible voters in the state are registered accordingly.