THE ongoing voters' registration entered its second day yesterday without the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) making any significant improvement in its handling of the exercise.
In some states, the exercise was yet to start while in others where it has taken off, prospective voters have continued to display anger, frustration, and disappointment over their inability to locate any registration centre or technical hitches arising from the inability of some INEC officials to effectively operate the Direct Data Capture Machines (DDCMs).
In fact, INEC offices across the states of the federation were still expecting a sizeable number of their DDCMs and other materials yesterday.
The commission has however, admitted that there were lapses in the scheme and promised to improve on its performance. In Niger State, for instance, the exercise is yet to commence in six local councils of Mokwa, Paikoro, Lapai, Wushishi, Mariga, and Lapal. INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner, Emmanuel Onucheyo, attributed the development to the non-receipt of 628 machines, saying that only 2,798 of the equipment have so far been deployed in the state.
The Guardian learnt that INEC may have suspended the use of finger printing as an aspect of the on-going registration exercise.
It was also learnt that four of the machines were burnt in Madalla in Suleja Local Council, thus bringing the exercise to a halt in the area.
The suspension of the use of the machines is due to what INEC officials described as poor nature of the finger print machines, which have failed to function while many others work very slowly thereby prolonging the time for registering a voter.
The situation was not different in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) as complaints of technical hitches in operating the DDCMs trailed the exercise.
There was none of the area registration centres (ARC) visited within Abuja metropolis, where people did not have complaints against exercise or another. For instance at the Development Control office Wuse Zone 6, many voters were seen waiting patiently for the registration officers, despite the apparent slow process.
Similar complaints were replicated in GSS Wuse, Zone 3 as well as Government Secondary School, Tudun Wada in Zone 4, where many queued up for their turn. The situation was particularly bad at the GSS Zone 3, as a prospective voter told The Guardian that an individual had to donate a rim of papers to the INEC officials.
But INEC has described the Nigerians' apprehension over the exercise as unwarranted.
The Chief Press Secretary to INEC Chairman, Mr. Kayode Idowu who acknowledged the delayed deployment of DDCMs in a few of the polling units across the country, said the commission was aware of hitches, which accounted for difficulties in the capture of fingerprints and, consequently, lengthy queues at the polling units.
He said: "Nigerians should be reassured that these are initial problems which the commission is looking into and hopes to redress as soon as possible. The commission urges for patience, considering that the exercise has just started."
He commended Nigerians for turning out in large numbers for the exercise and reassured that no single person of registrable age who turns out to register will be denied the right in the course of the present exercise.
In Igbo Etiti Local Council of Enugu State yesterday voters in Diogbe, Ikolo, Ochima, Onyohor, Ohebe Dim, Idoha, Udueme, Umuna and Umunko communities said they had decided to boycott the exercise following the refusal of INEC to obey the ruling of Federal High Court, Enugu, which authorised the reversal of distorted wards in the area to their original status as gazetted by the Federal Government in No. 51 Volume 79 of 1992.
The protest by the communities came as INEC in Enugu said it still required about 715 machines to conduct a hitch-free voter's registration in the state.
Scores of residents, who thronged the various registration centres yesterday morning, could not register following the non-availability of INEC personnel and materials.
Governor Sullivan Chime who had on Saturday at the Premier Primary School centre, Udi flagged off the exercise where he registered with his wife, Clara, alongside other eligible voters, charged the electorate to register so that they can vote for the candidates of their choice in the forthcoming elections.
Resident Electoral Commissioner, Josiah Uwaezuruonye however, told The Guardian yesterday that inability to access the registration equipment on time as well as other materials were responsible for the slow pace of the exercise.
He said: "I apologise for this slip, honestly we did our best to ensure that what we have is moved round the state and for the exercise to commence as scheduled. But you see, the machines were received late and we started charging and configuring them to suit each voting unit because they are custom made. Charging alone takes about eight hours and so before all these could be concluded, it was late."
Members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) being used by INEC for the registration exercise have complained of logistics problems, unequal remuneration packages, and poor organisation.
A Batch B corps member in Jigawa State expressed disappointment at the turnout of event. He said they were enlisted in the NYSC screening process and participated in the training only to witness a reversed situation on Saturday.
Salami, who was still stranded, told The Guardian: "I have been here in Jigawa State since January 2, to participate in the training exercise. We all missed the Yuletide celebration just because we want to part in the exercise. INEC should have told us that they do not need our services and we would have stayed away.
"On getting here on Saturday morning, our names were not among those shortlisted for the centre, yet were initially accredited for it."
Protests also trailed the entire process in Adamawa State, as residents could not find machines to register.
Some of the eligible voters, who spoke to The Guardian yesterday in Yola, accused the officials of INEC of conniving with some top politicians in the state to deny them the right to register and vote during the April 2011 elections.
When The Guardian contacted the INEC Public Affairs Officer for Adamawa State, Mrs. Rifkatu Maxwell Duku, she said the machines were still arriving in the state.
The non-arrival of the machines also marred the exercise in Zamfara State.
INCE Resident Electoral Commissioner in the state, Alhaji Jibril Ibrahim Zarewa, had last week told the reporters that 1,657 registration machines had been received by the state INEC office, of which 2,705 were deployed for the project.
When The Guardian visited some centres in Bakura, Maru and Talata Mafara Local councils, most prospective voters were waiting to register.
The state governor, Mahmud Aliyu Shinkafi, after registering, called on Nigerians to support INEC to ensure the success of the exercise.
The Imo State Police Command has arrested 37 youths over the violent protest at the Imo State headquarters of INEC.
And two days into the exercise, INEC officials in Owerri, the state capital, had no materials to register the residents for the next election.
The Guardian learnt that angry corps members besieged the INEC office, threatening to set it ablaze over the alleged exclusion of their names from the list of those trained to man centres. They accused the officials of the state INEC headed by Prof. Selina Oko of replacing their names with favoured persons for the exercise.
The Senate President David Mark and his wife, Helen, were among Nigerians affected by the technical fault in one of the machines deployed to his polling unit at the Old Government Reserved Area (GRA), Otukpo.
Mark waited for almost one hour, but could not be registered due to technical challenges in the scanner attached to the DDC machine.
After several unsuccessful attempts to capture his finger prints, the Registration Officer, Adeniji Musibau, pleaded with him to come back to register.
As early as 8:00 a.m. yesterday, scores of eligible voters had besieged oth Unit 1 and 2 at Rukpokwu in Obio-Akpor Local Council in Rivers State but due to the inability of INEC officials to operate the computer, most of them returned home disappointed.
At Rumuwoji Hall, Ward 11, Port Harcourt Local Council, INEC officials complained that they had problems with power, printer, and the thumbprint scanner.
The exercise commenced in Kano State at the weekend amidst complaints by residents that they would not be able to register if the slow pace persisted
The Guardian learnt that prospective voters who thronged various polling units to participate in the two week-long exercise within the Kano metropolis went home disappointed.
Fears heighten as voters' registration lapses continue (http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=35731:fears-heighten-as-voters-registration-lapses-continue&catid=1:national&Itemid=559)