As the Continuous Voters Registration (CVR) exercise comes to an end, prospective voters on Sunday stormed the Rivers State INEC office in Port Harcourt to demand for further extension of the Sunday 31July deadlines.
The crowd who were locked out could be seen hanging around INEC premises as officials of the commission take them in for registration in batches for the last day of the registration.
One of the prospective voters who identified himself as Okechukwu Jonathan as well as other voters called for the extension of time of the exercise adding that with today being the deadline they might eventually not get registered.
He said, “I would love them to extend the time so that people can register. Most people don’t have time because of work. This (Sundays) is the time most people can come.”
Another unregistered voter, Francis Ebony, commended the effort of INEC official to cover as much as possible within the shortest time available and the organization of the exercise even at the rush hour.
He also blamed the eventual slow pace of the closing operation on the disorderly behavior of Registrants.
Ebony added, “Those who opted to disregard the queue arrangements put in place by officials to ensure smooth running of the process are to blame for the hitches and induced downtime. INEC has tried and still trying.”
INEC’s Geraldine Ekelemu, Public Affairs Officer in the state while reacting to the situation said “nothing so far suggest that the commission will give another extension of time, blaming the situation where are yet to register on the Nigerian factor.”
According Ekelemu, “As you are aware, this programme is ending today, and the crowd has been increasing by the day, of course because of the Nigerian factor.
“We always tend to way till the deadlines of duties before we turn up and that is also what we are experiencing as a commission here and across the LGAs and in some other states.
“So far it has been smooth. Some days we’ve experienced downtime with network, but it picks up immediately and we are able attend to all who tur up each day.
“Today, even as we close, we will attend to everyone who has turned up as this exercise comes to a close. We have about three centers at this state office.
“We have four, three machines working in some of the centers, taking the crowd of those who have turned up in batches. The hall already full and that’s why you have some persons waiting outside in and outside the gate.
“So, once we clear the hall, we take in another batch. If we allow everyone to come in at a time, the place is going to be in a total mess.
He added, “No indicator from headquarters that we are planning to extend the exercise. 31st July is 31st. This exercise has been on for over a year now. Anyone with intention to register an participate in the coming elections should have done the needful today.”