Shortage of machines mar registration for PVCs in llorin

Many eligible voters in llorin, on Tuesday, expressed disappointment on their inability to register for the Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) ahead of the 2019 general elections due to shortage of registration machines.

Our correspondent reports that hundreds of prospective eligible voters usually besiege various PVC registration centres without success of obtaining their cards.

When our correspondent visited a registration centre at the premises of the llorin Grammar School on Tuesday, scores of eligible voters including pregnant women, aged and the physically challenged, were waiting endlessly to get registered.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (lNEC) officials in charge of the exercise had a hectic time as the situation was rowdy with only one registration machine to work with.

The absence of the law enforcement agents at the registration centre worsened the situation, which brought about the slow pace of the exercise.

Some of the eligible voters, who spoke with our correspondent said that they arrived the venue as early as 5 a.m. without any hope of getting the temporary voters’ card.

A few of the eligible voters alleged that some politicians normally prepared the list of those to be registered to INEC officials, which they said prevented several people from being registered.

The Head of Voter Education and Public Affairs with the lNEC in Kwara, Mr Jacob Ayanda told NAN that the commission provided only four registration machines for the llorin West Local Government Area of the state.

“We don’t manufacture registration machines, only four are allocated to all the twelve wards of the llorin West Local Government Area from the lNEC headquarters in Abuja,’’ Ayanda said.

He called on eligible voters yet to be registered to exercise patience, as the commission was working round the clock to ensure that all eligible voters in the state are registered.