Voters In Ilorin Unable To Register For Permanent Voter Cards

Eligible voters in Ilorin have been unable to register for the Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) ahead of the 2019 general elections due to the shortage of registration machines.

According to PM News, Hundreds of prospective eligible voters usually besiege various PVC registration centers without success of obtaining their cards.

When a news correspondent visited a registration center at the premises of the Ilorin Grammar School on Tuesday, scores of eligible voters including pregnant women, aged and the physically challenged, were waiting endlessly to get registered.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) officials in charge of the exercise had a hectic time as the situation was rowdy with only one registration machine to work with.

The absence of the law enforcement agents at the registration center worsened the situation, which brought about the slow pace of the exercise.

Some of the eligible voters, who spoke with said that they arrived at the venue as early as 5 a.m. without any hope of getting the temporary voters’ card.

A few of the eligible voters alleged that some politicians normally prepared the list of those to be registered to INEC officials, which they said prevented several people from being registered.

The Head of Voter Education and Public Affairs with the INEC in Kwara, Mr Jacob Ayanda said that the commission provided only four registration machines for the Ilorin West Local Government Area of the state.

“We don’t manufacture registration machines, only four are allocated to all the twelve wards of the Ilorin West Local Government Area from the INEC headquarters in Abuja,’’ Ayanda said.

He called on eligible voters yet to be registered to exercise patience, as the commission was working round the clock to ensure that all eligible voters in the state are registered.