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Tag: Paul Atser

  • INEC registers 70, 000 prospective voters in Kwara

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it has registered 70,000 people in Kwara since the commencement of the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise in April 2017.

    Mr Paul Atser, INEC Administrative Secretary in the state, made this known during a meeting with members of the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) in Ilorin on Monday.

    He said that the Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) of the 70,000 registered prospective voters would soon be sent to the state for distribution.

    He added that of the 242,000 unclaimed PVCs in the state, 4,000 had been collected by their owners.

    Atser assured IPAC members that the newly printed PVCs would soon be ready for collection, adding that stakeholders would be adequately informed on this.

    According to him, card owners will have to personally visit INEC collection centres as there will be no collection by proxy.

    The administrative secretary expressed satisfaction over at the ongoing registration and urged members of the IPAC to mobilize those yet to register to do so.

    He commended the peaceful and serene political environment existing among the political parties in the state.

    Atser noted that the political parties had been conducting their activities in peaceful manner devoid of any major rancour and appealed to them to sustain the situation.

    He said that the meeting was called to update political parties with developments since the last meeting.

    He urged IPAC members to feel free to visit the commission’s office to obtain clarifications on any issue.

    Earlier, IPAC Chairman in the state, Comrade Abdul-Mumeen Onagun, who is also the Labour Party (LP) Chairman, commended the openness of the state office of INEC in handling all issues relating to political parties and creating a level playground all the time.

    Onagun noted that in spite of INEC’s efforts, the number of the registration centers were still “grossly inadequate” and very far from the registrants.

    He, therefore, urged INEC to create more centres, to ensure that no one was disenfranchised due to inability to register.

  • INEC uncovers illegal registration center in Kwara

    The Independent National Electoral Commission ( INEC ) says it has uncovered an illegal voter registration centre in Offa, Kwara State.

    INEC Administrative Secretary in Kwara, Mr Paul Atser, made this known in a statement in Ilorin on Friday.

    “It has come to the notice of Independent National Electoral Commission, Kwara State that some unscrupulous persons are carrying out illegal registration of voters in Offa Local Government area,” Atser said.

    According to him, the perpetrators of the illegal registration were using Corel Draw application to change the particulars in a scanned INEC PVC.

    The INEC official said one suspect was arrested and undergoing interrogation by the police.

    “The general public is advised to be watchful and ensure that they go to only INEC designated registration centers to be captured for the PVC,” Atser added.

    He said a list of all designated centers were available at the State office as well as its offices in the 16 local government councils in Kwara.

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  • INEC registers 68, 079 voters in Kwara; creates 10 additional centers

    INEC registers 68, 079 voters in Kwara; creates 10 additional centers

    Independent National Electoral Commission ( INEC ) says it has registered 68, 079 voters in Kwara since the commencement of the Continuous Voter Registration ( CVR ).

    Mr Paul Atser, INEC Administrative Secretary made this known on Thursday in Ilorin while briefing stakeholders on the exercise.

    He said that the commission had created 10 additional mobile registration centres in the state to bring the exercise closer to the people.

    The continuous registration began in April 2017 in all the 36 states of the federation including Abuja.

    Atser however frowned at the low pace of collection of the Permanent Voter Card (PVC) since the commencement of the registration exercise in April.

    Read also: Over 657,000 PVCs unclaimed in Oyo State – INEC

    “It was sad to note that collection of permanent voter card was at its lowest ebb since April, 2017 to date.

     “Only 3, 069 PVCs have so far been collected out of the total 242, 069 unclaimed cards after 2015 elections.

     “As we speak, 239, 000 Permanent Voter Cards yet to be unclaimed,” Atser said.

    The Administrative Secretary therefore called on the people that had registered as voters to come for the collection of their voter cards.

    He said the new registration centres were located in Ilapa in Asa Local Government, Ilesha in Baruten, Tsonga in Edu, Igbaja in Ifelodun and Iponrin in Ilorin East.

    Other centres are Oro II in Irepodun, Kemanji in Kaiama, Shao in Moro, Igbana in Oke-Ero and Kpada in Patigi.

    Atser also appealed to eligible voters who had not register for their permanent voter card to do so to enable them exercise their franchise during the coming elections.

    NAN

  • “240, 000 uncollected PVCs in Kwara”- INEC Admin Secretary

    “240, 000 uncollected PVCs in Kwara”- INEC Admin Secretary

    The INEC Administrative Secretary in Kwara, Mr Paul Atser, has disclosed that a total of 240, 000 Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) had yet to be collected by voters in the state.

    Atser made this known on Tuesday in Ilorin in his opening remarks at the INEC Stakeholders’ meeting on the commencement of the Distribution of Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) and Continuous Voters’ Registration (CVR) in the state.

    He said INEC will release the PVCs to their rightful owners upon presentation of their Temporary Voters Card (TVCs) and fill the attestation forms to be supplied by INEC Distribution Officers.

    The Admin Secretary said the exercise will commence nationwide on Thursday, while that of Kwara will also kick off on that day at the INEC office in Ilorin West Local Government.

    He said the exercise will take place in all the 16 local government councils starting from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. daily, except public holidays.

    According to Atser, the distribution of PVCs, and the registration of voters who have just turned 18 years and the transfer of PVCs from one location to the other will last till a month to the Permanent Voter Cards

    He, therefore, advised those who have registered during the last registration exercise and have not collected their PVCs to find time and collect same between now and one month to the 2019 Presidential election.

    Atser added that there was no need for people to rush to the collection or registration centers, as there was enough time to do so at their leisure.

    The Admin Secretary also said that those who were given Temporary Voter Cards (TVCs) but their names were not captured in the PVCs would be registered for fresh PVCs.

    He advised those that have already collected their PVCs not to bother to come for registration as double registration was not allowed.

    “No double registration, it is an offence to register more than once as this constitutes an electoral offence and it is punishable,’’ Atser added.

    He said print outs of the registered list will be on display during the last week of every quarter, for people to raise objections and claims.

    Atser said lost PVCs will be replaced upon presentation of an Affidavit from a High Court and a Police report at the registration center, where the person will fill a form containing the biometric data.

    The Stakeholders meeting was attended by representatives of the Commissioner of Police in Kwara, the Directorate of State Security, the NSCDC and the National Orientation Agency (NOA).

    It was also attended by chairmen and /secretaries of registered political parties in the state, representatives of civil society and women groups.