FCT residents laud INEC for 16 additional CVR centres

Residents of Federal Capital Territory (NAN) on Tuesday commended the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for creating additional 16 centres for ongoing Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) in the territory.

The residents told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the new centres would ease the suffering people were experiencing going to the only centre at Karu for the exercise, saying it was a welcomed gesture.

According to Mr. Sunday Musa, a teacher, before now the CVR centres were difficult to access; I live in Gwarinpa but had to come all the way to Karu to register. It is not easy going there due to traffic.

I am glad that 16 additional centres were added to the FCT; it will at least, ease the process.

With these new centres, I am sure that so many people will be interested in the exercise because the process has been made easy,” Musa said.

Mr. Maryam Idris, a trader, said that it took her three days of going to the centre in Karu before she succeeded in registering.

Idris said that the long wait on the queue deterred many people from registering, adding that the additional centres would solve the problem of queuing for long periods to register.
She commended INEC for the CVR, adding that it the process was smooth because there was no correction to be made on her details.

A civil servant, Mr. Hakeem Suleiman, told NAN that he could not register during the first quarter exercise in spite of being at the centre five times.

He attributed the problem to long queues occasioned by existence of only one centre, saying “that was how I could not register till the first phase ended, but I am glad for the additional centres.

This means that I can freely walk in and register and leave without the stress of standing under the sun for hours. INEC kept to its promise of adding centres for the exercise and I am glad to be benefiting from it.”

A student, Mr. Jonah Lekwot, who was at the venue to correct his registration details, said that he was glad there was an opening to do that. This, he said, was possible because people had the opportunity of correcting mistakes made during registration.

Earlier, Mrs. Ndidi Okafor, Head, Voter Education and Publicity, Gender and Civil Society Liaison, INEC, FCT, said that the new registration centres had increased the number to 22 in the territory.

Okafor explained that the new centres were created in response to demand by residents in the area “to ease the harsh experiences they encounter in trying to get to the area councils, especially the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC).

She urged residents to collect their permanent voter cards and to check for correctness of their data and other issues for claims and objections.