BY CHRIS OCHAYI
ABUJA—The Nigerian Peoples Congress, NPC, said yesterday that the problems associated with the ongoing voter registration, occasioned by the frequent malfunctioning of the Direct Data Capture, DDC, machines and shortage of other materials, was a national embarrassment.

National Chairman of NPC, Prince Ngozi Emioma, who made the remarks in a statement yesterday, however, called for an extension of the dateline for the conclusion of the exercise.

“NPC calls for an extension of the on-going voter registration exercise due to frequent malfunction of the Direct Data Capture Machines, shortage of the DDM, scarcity of registration materials and inadequate voter registration units across the country.”

“The problems associated with voter registration exercise are a national embarrassment. With the billions of naira released for the exercise, Nigerians expected a hitch-free voter registration, which is critical for credible and transparent general elections.

“We urge INEC to rectify these problems immediately and extend the registration period to enable eligible voters perform their civic duties. To disenfranchise millions of Nigerians for no fault of theirs is unfair, unjust and unacceptable.

“We only hope that the INEC blunder in the voter registration exercise is not a prelude to shamble April 2011 elections. We urge INEC to sit up and do a good job,” the party said.