Govt Wants INEC to Extend Ondo Voter Registration Exercise

The Ondo State government has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to extend the ongoing voters registration exercise in the state beyond today.

According to a statement issued by the state’s Commissioner for Information, Mr. Kayode Akinmade in Akure yesterday, the extension in the one week programme which ends today (Sunday) became imperative as a result of the inability of many potential voters to register despite repeated visits to the registration points.

Urging the electoral body to consider the extension of the registration exercise beyond today, the government said there were complaints of INEC registration equipment malfunctioning in many of the centres across the state during the exercise, thus preventing many of the potential voters from registering.

“There are complaints across the state about the inability of the people to register to enable them vote in the coming elections in the state. In some registration centres in Akure South and Akure North, there are people who visited the centres more than three days, yet they were unable to register because of the inability of INEC materials to cope with the large turnout.

“There are instances in Ofosu and Alade areas in Idanre local government where out of over 200 people on the queue intending to register in more than one instance, only 14 of them could be accommodated” the statement noted, adding that the story is the same across the state.

Government implored the electoral body to extend the duration of the exercise, even as it implored that it ensure that its registration gadgets are put in proper condition so that potential voters won’t be denied the opportunity of carrying out their civic responsibility at election time due to no fault of theirs.