Nigeria began displaying register of voters for the April polls even as multiple registration was reported to have taken place in some centres.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), in charge of the oil-rich African country”s just-concluded registration of eligible voters exercise which saw 62.2 million voters recorded, said that at various centres in Kebbi state, people were registered more than once thereby delaying the display of names which would end on Friday.
At different centres in the commercial capital of Lagos, no names were displayed as planned and the voters themselves were apathetic to the display as very few turned out to check if their names were published.
“I am contented with my registration card and whether they display it or not, I am sure of voting during the elections,” a voter, Kashimowo Johnson, told PTI at Apapa High School registration centre where the display was yet to start.
The exercise was interrupted today by the public holiday declared nationwide to celebrate the birthday of Prophet Muhammed, the founder of Islam.
On the issue of multiple registrations, INEC office in South-western state of Ekiti today announced that the commission has started installing a special software that would enable it detect those who were registered more than once.
The INEC spokesman in the state, Taiwo Gbadegesin, said the Commission has started the display of the Registers in all the 2,195 polling units across the State, adding that the verification of multiple registration exercise would be done centrally at the Commission”s headquarters in Ado Ekiti and not in all the polling units as being done in the ongoing display of registers.
Influential Thisday newspaper reported that in another South-western state of Oyo the exercise took off on a poor note as there were no lists displayed at several registration centres in the state”s capital of Ibadan.
The setbacks notwithstanding, the INEC chairman, Professor Attahiru Jega said that his commission is poise to conduct a free and fair election exercise and emphasised the importance of the voters register as a necessary tool to the conduct of free polls.
Nigeria, Africa”s biggest democracy with a population of 150 million people has scheduled elections for April.
The elections will be contested by President Goodluck Jonathan and other presidential candidates, including former head of state, General Ibrahim Buhari and former anti-graft chief Nuhu Ribadu.