INEC may disenfranchise many in C’River

Several residents of Cross River State, armed with Temporary Voters Cards (TVCs) may, after all, not vote in the 2015 general election, commencing on March 28.

Reason is that their Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) are not available in the state INEC office, neither are their names on the INEC register.

A number of people so affected have continued to troop into the state NUJ Press Center, Calabar, to protest, expressing worries over why they should be so disenfranchised by INEC.

Rose Adie, who was at the Press Centre in the company of two of her friends, all armed with TVCs and with similar complaints, said they sacrificed days to get registered, and expressed worries why their PVCs were not available and their names not on the INEC register.

Adie, who identified herself as a student of the University of Calabar, said they came to the media to cry out over what they regard as an attempt to disenfranchise some of them.

In a telephone interview with Daily Times, the Cross River State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Dr. Sysvester Okey Ezeani, said those so affected may have to wait till after the 2015 general election.

“There is not much those people can do for now. During the 2011 registration exercise, some people did double registration. The commission continued with the exercise to check such flaws,” Ezeani said, adding that between August and September 2014, there was another exercise for people to cross check their names”.

The resident electoral commissioner said people should have taken advantage of such opportunities, stressing that “if they did not cross-check then, there is not much they can do now.”