18th January, 2011
The Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, House of Representatives candidate for Lagos Island Constituency 01, Hon. Jumoke Okoya-Thomas, has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to extend the timeline for the ongoing voter registration exercise.
The two-term federal lawmaker, who spoke yesterday after registering at St. Joseph Primary School, Elegbata, Lagos Island, added that it is worrisome if the machines can only register a few people compared to the number of people that came out to register across the state.
She said: “What we are experiencing now is what is called teething problem. You know for any new project to be successful, you would expect some teething problem, but I expect the INEC to extend the time line for the exercise. If you go to some of the stations, you will find out that they have not registered up to 20 people in two days.
“It is worrisome if we can only register few people now, we expect the turn-out to be heavier towards the end of the exercise. INEC should see this as a matter of urgency and do something quickly,†she said.
When asked what could be responsible for the hiccups, Jumoke Okoya-Thomas said: “These are new machines but at the station that I went this morning, I learnt that after registering two persons, the camera stopped working. They said the camera heated up but I don’t know what they meant by that.
“In my local government, we have decided to buy standing fans to cool those machines if heat is the problem.
“In most cases, computers are used in rooms where there air conditioners, but the registration is going on right in the sun. Therefore, before the end of the day, we will distribute standing fans to all the stations in this local government to cool their systems,†she said.