By Clifford Ndujihe, Dayo Johnson, Olasunkanmi Akoni, Festus Ahon, Gabriel Enogholase, Samuel Oyadongha, Egufe Yafugborhi, Emem Idio, Peter Okutu, Chioma Onuegbu, James Ogunnike & Steve Oko

FORTY eight hours to the end of the voters’ registration exercise, Nigerians, in their numbers trooped to registration centres across the country, yesterday, to get listed for the highly prized Permanent Voters’ Card, PVC. The exercise, according to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, will end on July 31. So, Nigerians who are 18 years and above who want to register,  replace lost card or transfer their voting location have today and tomorrow to do so.

Across the country, yesterday, many registration centres were over crowded raising fears that many people may not be registered.

Governor Diri cancels sanitation in Bayelsa

To enable eligible Bayelsans to partake in the exercise, Governor Douye Diri directed the cancellation of the statewide environmental clean-up exercise earlier scheduled to hold on Saturday, July 30, 2022.

The move is to enable eligible residents in the state who are yet to get their permanent Voters Card to obtain same before the Sunday deadline.

This was contained in a statement issued Friday in Yenagoa by the Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Daniel Alabrah. The governor however urged all residents of the state to continue to keep their surroundings clean.

Indeed many residents of Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital are still turning out in their numbers to either register or collect their PVCs. At the INEC State headquarters along Swali road and the Yenagoa Local Government office of the commission, a crowd of anxious residents were seen trying to make sure that they beat the deadline for registration.

The State INEC Media Officer, Mrs Sarian Thomas, said the there was increase in number of people turning up for PVC registration.

“The number of people coming for registration is increasing daily, maybe it is because the exercise is coming to an end. We have an average of 150 persons daily in the centres. We have a registration centre at the state secretariat to give civil servants easy access.”

Massive turnout in Akure

The situation was thee same in Akure, Ondo State despite the non declaration of work free day for civil servants in the state by the state government. The two centres visited, the INEC office and ljomu area in Akure metropolis witnessed a large turnout. 

A market woman, Risikatu Jimoh lamented that she couldn’t go to the market because she wanted to partake in the exercise. She pleaded with those concerned to order the closure of the markets in the state for a day to allow market women to register.

Abiodun’s 2 work-free days boost turnout  in Ogun

In Ogun, workers and residents utilized work-free days declared by Governor Dapo Abiodun to troop to the centres. The first work free day was Tuesday and it was later extended to Friday. 

“The work free day is to enable those who have  either lost their cards, not registered or who might need to travel to their wards, local government areas and   constituencies to perfect their Permanent Voters Registration or transfer their cards, where necessary, to enable them participate in the next general elections,” the governor said in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Kunle Somorin. 

Speaking on the turnout of residents at registration points, Governor Abiodun expressed satisfaction over the peaceful and large turnout of residents across the state. 

Speaking while monitoring the registration exercise at Iregun and Imosan registration centres in Iperu-Remo, Ikenne Local  Government Area, Governor Abiodun noted that the ongoing voters registration would give the residents the opportunity to obtain their PVCs, to enable them elect credible candidates during the 2023 general elections. 

Registrants crowd INEC centre in Umuahia 

In Abia, new registrants and voters who have issues with their PVCs, or wishing to change their polling units, crowded the INEC registration centre at Adelabu Housing Estate, Umuahia, Abia North.

As of 3:30 pm,  registrants were still there desperately making last-minute efforts to be registered or attended to.

While some of the registrants mainly youths were observed waiting on the queue, despite the rainfall, some others, particularly the elderly were clustering on available seats and wooden chairs inside the INEC office.

Mr Jeremiah Kalu, a trader, told Saturday Vanguard that he was determined to wait till the close of work, and even come the next day to ensure that he was captured.

Anointing Mmesomachi, who just turned 18 years, said that he would not give up until he succeeded, saying he wants to take part in the 2023 poll.

Similarly, Mr Isaac Chinyere, another trader said he had come for registration twice without success and vowed to patiently wait until he was captured before the deadline because “I cannot afford to miss using my vote against “this Government of misery.”

Mr Chinyere said that the congestion at the Centre had always been his major challenge but added that he was determined to make whatever sacrifice necessary to get registered.

He said he had almost given up on participating in the electoral process but confessed that the emergence of the Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party, Mr. Peter Obi, stirred his interest in the system. An INEC official at the centre told Saturday Vanguard that registrants at the centre were impatient and non-cooperative.

The INEC staff said that the centre had the capacity of registering between 150 and 180 voters a day but regretted that the centre was usually over crowded.

She said that they usually refer people to the INEC headquarters in Umuahia, which has 10 capturing machines but instead of complying, the registrants prefer crowding the centre.

“What do you expect us to do? I don’t know why people like to stay back here instead of complying with our advice. We tell them other centres without congestion but they insist on staying here.

“We have only one machine here as we deployed other four machines to other wards in the Local Government. Our staff move around to different locations to register people.”

The staff said they work up till 7:00pm every day, adding that they were making spirited efforts to see that all those who showed up are registered. 

INEC worried over low collection of PVC in Rivers

In Port Harcourt, the Rivers  State capital, registration points have continued to witness surge in crowds of residents seeking for PVCs.

Geraldine Ekelemu, Public Affairs Officer, INEC, Rivers state, said: “Yes there’s a resurgence of crowd at our offices especially in the urban areas. However, we are doing our best to attend to every prospective registrant.”

Meanwhile the commission in Rivers is worried over low collection of PVCs by many who have registered, with Mrs May Agbamuche-Mbu, Supervising National Commissioner, INEC Rivers state, describing the level of collection as “abysmally low.”

According to Mrs Agbamuche-Mbu, “From our records, 278,417 new voters were registered as well as 127,670 voter transfers and 43, 080 PVC replacements as at 24th July, 2022. With regards to the distribution of new PVCs, 54, 945 have been received but only 10, 373 have so far been collected, leaving an outstanding balance of 44, 572.

“For transfers and replacements, of 16, 949 received, only 1, 790 have so far been collected. From the old PVCs we have on record 302, 297 cards but only 33, 575 collected. I must be emphatic here and put on record that the collection of the PVCs has been abysmally low. 

“With seven months to the 2023 General Election, we urge the people of Rivers State to collect their PVCs in good time and not to wait until the last minute. The Commission is working hard in its preparations for the 2023 General Election and strongly desires that no citizen is disenfranchised and that every vote will count.”

The Commission, she said, has extended time for registration from 9am to 5pm daily, including Saturdays and Sundays with arrangements and schedules made by the management to ensure the Registration Officers capture every Applicant in all Registration Areas, no matter how challenging the terrain. 

She added: “The Commission will close this CVR Exercise on the 31st of July, 2022, so as to display the tentative Register of Voters for claims and objections that will help to both purge and update the Electronic Register of Voters, copies of which will be made available to all political parties thereafter before the elections.  

Mad rush in Lagos  

In Lagos,  residents thronged the various centres across the metropolis in order to beat the July 31 deadline. Various centres visited yesterday around Lagos witnessed upsurge of prospective registrants who stormed some centres as early as 8.am. Some of the areas visited include: Alimosho, Ikeja, Agege

Earlier on Monday, Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu had approved four work-free days for workers in the state to enable them get their PVCs.

The approval and directive was contained in a statement on Monday by the Head of Service, Mr Hekeem Muri-Okunola.

According to Muri-Okunola, the work free days begin from July 26, till Friday July 29, before the deadline given by INEC for prospective voters to get registered.

 “Accordingly, Accounting Officers are hereby, enjoined to excuse their officers in the respective Grade Levels on the designated dates,” Muri-Okunola stated.

 The designated dates, according to the Head of Service are Tuesday 26- Grade Levels concerned are 01, 03, 07 and 15.

 For Wednesday, July 27, the Grade Levels affected are 02, 04, 08  and 13. Thursday, July 28, Grade Levels 05, 09, 12 and 17 while Friday, July 29, is dedicated for Grade Levels 06, 10, 14 and 16.

Also, the state government had embarked on sensitization exercise on  PVC, registration and  collection  to the  Lagos State University, Ojo and Lagos State University of Education, Ijanikin, where the students were urged to join hands with government in building a new Nigeria.

Speaking on some of the challenges being encountered at the centres, Ife Salako, House of Representatives, Almosho Constituency candidate, on the platform of Young Progressive Party, YPP, alleged that leaders of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, at the ward level have been disrupting the smooth process by ensuring that their members were given priority before others they perceived as not being loyal to APC.

“We have some cases where residents went wild with INEC officials when they observed discrepancies and preference given to some people believed to be APC members. This action was vehemently resisted as the situation became tensed. But sanity was subsequently restored following intervention of security personnel.”

Also, leaders of various traders had announced a two-day shutdown of shops, stalls, and warehouses to allow them register.

The markets were closed on Wednesday and Thursday to further boost the number of collection and registration ahead of next year’s general election across the country. Igando, Ikotun, Egbeda, Iyana-Ipaja, and Ikeja among other markets were closed down on Wednesday and Thursday.

The Babaloja of Alaba Rago Market 1, Ali Malami, said that the traders considered the PVC collection and registration important, hence, the reason for their decision.

Fresh registration centres created  in Ebonyi

In Abakaliki, the Ebonyi State capital, the Continuous Voters Registration, CVR, exercise witnessed massive turnout of registrants. One of the strategic formulas that was used by INEC was the urgent creation of registration centres within the state capital and beyond. These centres cut across Churches, offices of Unions and homes of prominent individuals in the state. People are visiting these centres in droves. An INEC Staff (names withheld) told Saturday Vanguard that the only challenge was the few machines.

The rush for PVCs in Delta 

Registration centres in Delta State are also witnessing large number of persons seeking to get their PVCs.  At eshimili South centre in Asaba, the queue of enthusiastic registrants kept increasing by the minute.

Saturday Vanguard gathered that those on the queue include those seeking for replacement of damaged or lost PVC; transfer of PVC from one unit to another; update of information of voters as well as those wanting to collect their PVC.

One of the registrants, Mr Gabriel Ordia,  said they were determined to see it through in order to vote during the 2023 general elections, despite the frustration associated with the exercise because of the slow pace it is being carried out. Ordia said he was mobilising his friends who are  mostly youths to come and be part of the exercise.

He lamented that he had been denied the opportunity of registering in recent days because he did not arrive the centre on time to be enlisted as a prospective registrant before the commencement by registration officers at 9am.

Massive crowd defy rain in Uyo

The exercise also witnessed large crowds of eligible voters across many registration centers in Akwa Ibom State, from Thursday and Friday. At some of the registration centres visited on yesterday, in Uyo, a good number of the registrants were youths between ages 18 and 28.

Also almost all of those spoken to said that they were just coming to participate in the exercise for the first time. Many of them even defied the Friday rainfall in order not to be disenfranchised, expressing their readiness to participate in the 2023 general elections to vote their favorite candidates.

This is even as some of them who spoke to Saturday Vanguard said they had been busy with work and some said they just made up their mind, hence the last minute rush. At the Uyo Local government INEC Office located at Ikot Akpan Abia, some of them said they arrived the centre before 6am on Friday, in order to get registered early. However, some of the registrants lamented that the exercise was slow which they attributed to shortage of machines.

A 28-year-old man who simply identified himself as Bassey said he had not been participating in previous elections due lack of confidence that votes count in Nigeria.

A19- year old-boy David Ukeme said:’I just came today . This is my first time of coming out to register because I have not been in the state. So, I arrived here as early as 7:30am so that I will not miss today’s deadline”

Another, Victoria 24years said:  ‘I came here before 6am today. I have not come until today And interestingly I met many people here who came earlier.

“But the issue is not really the long list of names here today, the issue is that they don’t have many machines to work with, that is what I have Just observed. But I am here, I must make sure I get registered.This is the first time I really want to vote. Before now, I never really had any favorite candidate.

“So I am here because I have  a presidential candidate I want to vote for in 2023. I want to vote for Peter Obi, that’s why I have come to register and get my PVC. He has vision for us, from his manifesto, you will agree with me that he has solution to the problems we have in this country”

Also, at the state Headquarters of INEC, George David, (23) from Benue State but residing in Akwa Ibom State said: “I have been busy with work, but seeing today is the last day, I had to drop all I was doing to rush down to register. Actually I have Voters Card but it got spoiled, so I am here to renew it. I arrived here by 9am but the process is very slow.”

Meanwhile, some officials of INEC said the crowd was as a result of the announcement of the closing date for the exercise. 

“When the date for the registration was extended people disappeared, they pressure on INEC became less. In fact some days you will see two or four people coming to register. If by tomorrow INEC decides to extend the deadline again, you won’t see any crowd here. That’s the situation. The process is not slow, it is just that there is crowd,” an INEC official said.

Registrants lament in Edo

In Edo, residents, yesterday, lamented their inability to register.

Some of the residents, who spoke to Saturday Vanguard at the INEC office in Oredo Local Government Area of Edo State, lamented the slow pace of the exercise.  

Dr. Simon Adebayo, a 62-year-old man of Omega fire Ministry Benin, said he was at the third INEC registration centre but unable to register. “I am here to register because I lost my card but with the situation now, I might not be able to do it. I live in GRA in Benin,  I went to two registration centres there but nothing was happening and I was directed to come here.

“When I got here, I discovered that those who came as early as 5am have not been attended to, and they are still on number 20 out of the 70 names on the list for today’s scheduled registrants.

“The exercise is frustrating, I paid N3,000 to come here today and this is my fourth time of trying to get registered. It seems they don’t want us to register but there is nothing we can do than to trust God that the best candidate would win”.On his part, Mr Polycap Okpara, another resident, who lost his card, lamented that he was at the centre as early as 5am but by 1:30pm, he was not sure of being registered.

“I was here by 5am and my number was 59 and  they are still attending to number 20. They only have one machine to attend to hundreds of people.”

Also speaking, Rosemary Ugiagbe,  who has not been registered before  said she had been at the centre on two previous occasions but was not successful. “I came here by 6am and couldn’t get a number. They told me that they have gotten to number 70 and that I should wait for the next batch. I spent N1,000 on transportation on each day”.

Meanwhile, an officials of the commission blamed the development on the residents who he said had not taken interest in the exercise that commenced June last year. He said about 80 percent of the people coming for registration were not those who just turned 18 years but those who either lost their voters cards or want card transfer.

“This exercise started June last year but people including politicians didn’t take interest in it but now that it remains one week they are spreading false rumour that INEC is favouring the North when in the last exercise, Delta and Bayelsa top states chart of registration”, he said.