29th October, 2010
Conference of Nigerian Political parties, CNPP, has frowned at the delay in the commencement of voters’ registration which would have commenced on November 1, 2010 but for the call for extension of time.
The CNPP through its National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Osita Okechukwu, noted that the award of the contract for the procurement of the biometric Direct Data Capture, DDC, machines is yet to be concluded.
The coalition group, which further observed that the training of the staff to handle the machines is yet to commence, emphasised that “time is of essence” in the matter.
It therefore called on the Professor Attahiru Jega-led INEC to as a matter of urgent national importance award the final contract for the procurement of the DDC machines and its accessories for the forthcoming voters registration exercise.
The group, however, hailed e INEC for working in tandem with the Bureau of Public Procurement, BPP, in appraising the twelve bidding companies aimed at guaranteeing appropriate pricing, quality, value for money and maintenance.
It further lauded the commission for selecting an indigenous company, Zinox Technology, to lead the two other companies, Haer Electrical Appliances and Avante Technology in procuring equipment.
Meanwhile, the Independent National Electoral Commission says it will commence voter registration process on November 1 with a training workshop for operators of the Direct Data Capture machines.
It said that the training would be in a cascading model as those trained in Abuja would move to the six geopolitical zones, train the operators there from where those trained would also move to other states. It added that students from only federal institutions would be engaged for the registration exercise.
Copyright protected by Digiprove © 2010 P.M.News