Some indigenes of Rivers have called for the decentralisation of the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) centres from the Local Government Areas to the Wards.
The indigenes expressed their minds while speaking in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Port Harcourt on Tuesday.
Mr Somiari Ogolo, a native of Opobo/Nkoro LGA , said that the centralisation had made the process difficult for people to register.
“The greatest challenge the people have is the centralisation of the exercise at the LGA offices of INEC across the country.
“It has made the process very difficult for people to access”. he said.
Mr Godson Eferebo, a politician, described the distance people who had attained the voting age had to cover to get to the headquarters of their LGA as stressful.
“Our people staying outside the LGA headquarters find it difficult travelling the distance.
“Some go through boats, while others go through land to register. This is coupled with the exorbitant transport cost,” he said.
Another respondent, Mr Iyalla Ogbogara, described the situation in Okrika LGA as pathetic.
“We expected INEC to decentralise it the way it was done before. They had greatly made the people to show apathy to the whole exercise,” he said.
An indigene Obio/Akpor LGA of the state, Mr Priestley Nna, lamented the situation whereby only one computer system was at hand to register people at the council secretariat.
“The exercise is not going on smoothly here at the Obio/Akpor INEC office because only one system is available for the exercise and this is causing avoidable delay.
“My cousin has been trying to register for five days now to no avail due to the large crowd occasioned by the non-availability of enough systems for the exercise.
“The crowds at the INEC premises are, however, becoming agitated,” he alleged.
A trader, Mrs Comfort Udoh, said she had left her store to register but could not because of the crowd.
“ I have tried severally to register, but the crowd at the centres has made it difficult for me to be registered,” she said.
INEC had said that the CVR would be carried out in the Local Government Area offices or at such other locations within the Local Government Areas as may be designated by the Commission.(NAN)
