Agency registers 125,198 new voters in Enugu

No fewer than 125,198 eligible voters have registered for the first and second quarters in the Continuous Voters Registration (CVR) in Enugu State.

The state Independent National Electoral Commissioner Mr Emeka Ononamadu said this in a interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Enugu on Saturday.

He said 56,562 eligible persons registered in the second quarter of the CVR that ended on Sept. 19 in the state.

He also said 68,672 registered in the first quarter; thus, the difference of 12,110 in between the two quarters, indicating a downward trend in fresh eligible voters’ registration.

The commissioner said that the commission opened eight additional centres during the second quarter, especially in difficult terrains, to reach communities that were far from their local council headquarters.

Ononamadu said the downward trend in the second quarter called for intensive awareness by Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and other stakeholders to reverse it.

He announced that the third quarter registration would begin on Oct. 30 and would run for three months.

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“INEC cannot do it alone; we depend on critical stakeholders and the people to make elections very successful,’’ he said.

He urged the media to help the commission to reduce the growing incidences of registration apathy.

Ononamadu said 139,342 Permanent Voters Card (PVC) were still at various INEC council area offices, adding that Enugu North and Enugu East council areas had the highest number of uncollected PVCs.

He said that the commission had also so far distributed 4,716 PVCs in the 17 council areas of the state between July 31 and Sept. 19.