TheHILL. | NEWS | JULY 7, 2021.
Akwa Ibom State Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Mr. Frank Archibong has expressed optimism that the State will be ranked among States with the highest number of registrants, considering the State’s current population density.
The Commissioner gave the assurance, Tuesday in a special meeting convened for the purpose of sensitizing the 31 Local Government Council Chairmen on the resumed Continuous Voter’s Registration (CVR) exercise. He charged the Council helmsmen to champion the voters registration exercise in their respective LGAs, noting that the participation of the local populace in political and decision-making processes, and particularly in elections can only be guaranteed if they are adequately educated on how to use android phones and laptops to key into the INEC’s new model of online registration.
The Commissioner implored the Chairmen to encourage every one of voting age within their domains, especially the youths, to engage actively in this process, stressing that the first critical step of participating in governance is to get a voter’s card that enables them determine who governs them and how they are governed.
Frank noted that, “there are no better positioned persons to simplify the ongoing PVC registration process than the Local Government Council Chairmen and other leaders at that level”. He therefore encouraged them to carry out massive enlightenment campaigns for indigenes and residents of their LGAs who are eligible to participate in the 2023 elections.
In the Commissioner’s words, “It will be a great disservice to the local populace if Council Chairmen ignore the need to, not just properly educate their people on the online registration processes, but the need to massively mobilize those who are eligible to be registered”. He further tasked the Council Chairmen to go as far as drafting computer literate persons with android phones and laptops to rural communities to help the rural dwellers who are not conversant with the use of the devices.
The Commissioner, appreciated the fact that there is a support Staff from the Independent National Electoral Commission in every Local Government Area, noting that this will help make the process less hectic for indigenes.
The starting point to increase the State’s electoral strength is from the grassroot. With this in mind, the Honourable Commissioner urged the Council Chairmen to go back to their domains and engage the Councillors, Traditional Rulers(including Family Heads), Youth Leaders and Women Leaders in the task of creating awareness and sensitizing the people on how to go about the online registration.
Those eligible to register include – those that are above 18 years and who have not been previously registered; registered voters who had any problem during accreditation for any past election; registered voters who want to transfer their voting location from one place to another; registered voters who want to correct issues with their data, such as misspelt names, dates of birth and; registered voters whose PVCs are lost or damaged.
The high point of the moment was the Commissioner’s declaration of a reward for the Local Government Area with the highest number of registrants.
