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Tag: Ndidi Okafor

  • We’re overwhelmed by rush to collect PVCs- INEC

    The Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) says it is overwhelmed by the current rush by eligible voters to collect their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) few days to the election.

    Mrs Ndidi Okafor, Head, Voter Education, Publicity, Gender and Civil Society at the INEC office in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) stated this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria  in Abuja on Friday.

    Okafor, therefore, appealed to prospective voters who were yet to collect their PVCs in the FCT to be patient with the commission as it is doing everything possible to distribute them before the deadline.

    NAN reports that INEC had set Feb. 8, as deadline for eligible voters to collect their PVCs.

    “We have been distributing PVCs in the six Area Councils and in all the 62 wards of the FCT for the past 20 months.

    “We had earlier appealed to residents to come and collect theirs to discourage the 11th-hour rush syndrome, but they did not come, now they are putting pressure on everybody.

    “One of our staff was injured and most of them cannot even take break to eat due to the pressure from the people, so we are working on seeking assistance of the police in all the collection centres to maintain order.

    “The Feb. 8, deadline is sacrosanct and there won’t be an extension that is why we have extended the collection time from between 9 a.m. and 3p.m. to between 9.am. and 4p.m. daily,’’ she said.

    Okafor appealed to residents to be orderly on the queues so they can collect their cards on time.

    Read Also: INEC seeks media’s support on voter education

    She said the commission would distribute PVCs on Saturday, Jan. 19 and Sunday, Jan. 20 to enable workers collect theirs.

    She said that complaints of those whose names were omitted had been noted and had been sent to the headquarters for redress.

    She said their PVCs would be produced for collection before the deadline.

    Okafor said the commission has two PVC hotlines- 08153162663 and 08188241666 that people can call for complain or enquiry.

  • Over 250,000 PVCs uncollected in FCT – INEC

    Over 250,000 PVCs uncollected in FCT – INEC

    The Independent National Electoral Commission ( INEC ) on Wednesday said over 250, 000 Permanent Voter Cards ( PVCs ) were yet to be collected by registered voters in the Federal Capital Territory ( FCT ).

    Mrs Ndidi Okafor, Head, Voter Education and Publicity, Gender and Civil Society Liaison, INEC, FCT, made this known in Abuja that the rate of PVC collection in the area was low.

    Okafor said that the uncollected PVCs were from the 2011, 2014, and 2016 voter registration by the commission in the territory.

    She said, “we are appealing to Nigerians to please come and collect their PVCs; it is not just enough to come and register, you have to complete the process by collecting your card.

    “We are doing a lot of partnerships with different organizations to create awareness on this; we go to churches and mosques to do advocacy and we even visit traditional rulers to help us talk to their subjects.

    “However, the commission cannot do this alone; political parties have a strategic role to play, so we urge them to talk to their supporters to send down these messages to the grassroots.’’

    Okafor appealed to Nigerians not to be discouraged by the long queue they met at voter registration centres, assuring that INEC was working out how to make the exercise hitch-free.

    She urged Nigerians to be more patient with the process “because it is their right to register and vote’’.

    “We need to be supportive of this process so that we can all register.

    “The wisdom here is that no matter how long these queues are, they get cleared up early because not everyone there is for registration.

    “Some people are just there to transfer their voter cards, while others are for corrections. So, ideally nobody is supposed to spend up to five minutes on the queue,’’ she explained.

    Okafor said that the registration centres in the FCT had been increased from 22 to 32 and urged people to go and register.

    She said that on April 27, 2017 when the exercise started, FCT had only six registration centres, but that due to stakeholders demanded, 16 new centres were added.

    She added that 10 more centres were recently created, bringing the number to 32 for the six area councils in the territory.

    Okafor said that INEC was also taking steps to increase the number of registration machines in the centres, especially in Abuja Municipal Area Council ( AMAC ), which had nine centres.

    She said that 10 machines and the scanners had also been deployed at the centres.

    NAN

  • FCT residents laud INEC for 16 additional CVR centres

    FCT residents laud INEC for 16 additional CVR centres

    Residents of Federal Capital Territory (FCT) on Tuesday commended the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for creating additional 16  centres for ongoing Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) in the territory.

    The residents told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the new centres would ease the suffering people were experiencing going to the only centre at Karu for the exercise, saying it was a welcomed gesture.

    According to Mr Sunday Musa, a teacher, before now the CVR centres were difficult to access; I live in Gwarinpa but had to come all the way to Karu to register. It is not easy going there due to traffic.

    “I am glad that 16 additional centres were added to the FCT; it will at least, ease the process.

    “With these new centres, I am sure that so many people will be interested in the exercise because the process has been made easy,” Musa said.

    Mr Maryam Idris, a trader, said that it took her three days of going to the centre in Karu before she succeeded in registering.

    Idris said that the long wait on the queue deterred many people from registering, adding that the additional centres would solve the problem of queuing for long periods to register.

    She commended INEC for the CVR, adding that it the process was smooth because there was no correction to be made on her details.

    A civil servant, Mr Hakeem Suleiman, told NAN that he could not register during the first quarter exercise in spite of being at the centre five times.

    He attributed the problem to long queues occasioned by existence of only one centre, saying “that was how I could not register till the first phase ended, but I am glad for the additional centres.

    “This means that I can freely walk in and register and leave without the stress of standing under the sun for hours.

    “INEC kept to its promise of adding centres for the exercise and I am glad to be benefiting from it.”

    A student, Mr Jonah Lekwot, who was at the venue to correct his registration details, said that he was glad there was an opening to do that.

    This, he said, was possible because people had the opportunity of correcting mistakes made during registration.

    Earlier, Mrs Ndidi Okafor, Head, Voter Education and Publicity, Gender and Civil Society Liaison, INEC, FCT, said that the new registration centres had increased the number to 22 in the territory.

    Okafor explained that the new centres were created in response to demand by residents in the area “to ease the harsh experiences they encounter in trying to get to the area councils, especially the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC)’’.

    She urged residents to collect their permanent voter cards and to check for correctness of their data and other issues for claims and objections.

  • Decentralisation of voting unconstitutional – INEC

    Decentralisation of voting unconstitutional – INEC

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Monday said the call by Nigerians for decentralisation of voting was unconstitutional.

    Mrs. Ndidi Okafor, Deputy Director, Public Relations, INEC, Federal Capital Territory (FCT), told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that it was not possible to register in one place and vote in another.

    Okafor said that the law establishing the commission did not give it power to allow decentralisation of voting, adding that it would be illegal to embark on such idea.

    “It is a legal matter; it has nothing to do with the internal administration of the commission. The Electoral Act says vote where you register.

    “So, you must endeavour to ensure that where you register is where you have to vote because on Election Day, movement is restricted and that is why the law says ‘go and vote where you registered’.

    “As long as that law remains and has not been amended, there is nothing the commission can do to allow decentralisation of voting.

    “All INEC needs to do is to appeal that Nigerians be law-abiding and register close to where they live for easy access to polling centres during elections.

    “Election is a national project guided by the laws of the land, the Constitution and the electoral Act; so I appeal that we should respect and obey the law,’’ she said.

    Okafor said that all Nigerians could do for now was to start lobbying for a change of the law to meet their request.

    She, however, encouraged those that had moved from where the registered to go to the continuous voter registration centre in their area councils to transfer their votes to their present location.

    She said INEC had provided an electoral product called “transfer of documentation’’ for Nigerians to transfer their votes, inter-state or intra-state as they wished.

    Okafor said that in the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration (CRV), INEC made provision for three main electoral products.

    She said that the products were fresh registration, which was opened only to those who just turned 18, those not registered before, or persons with temporary voter card, but names not in the voter register.

    According to her, persons in these three categories can now access fresh registration and INEC officers are on ground to help them.

    Okafor said that the voter registration was progressing smoothly, adding that INEC would soon seek ways to decentralise the process so as to capture every area.