15th March, 2018
The Olu of Warri, Ogiame Ikenwoli, on Thursday appealed to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to rekindle voters’ confidence in subsequent elections.
Ikenwoli said this in his palace in Warri when he played host to INEC officials from the state.
He said that most people had lost confidence in INEC over the years.
The traditional ruler said that when a voter took all the pains to vote on an election day but the result was rigged; such a voter would not want to vote again.
The Olu advised INEC to do more in order to gain voters’ confidence before, during and after elections.
He said that many people were not interested in voting again during elections conducted by INEC because they alleged that their votes cast would not count after election.
He, therefore, charged INEC to improve on the structures it had in place in terms of machinery and logistics to gain voters’ confidence again.
Earlier, the INEC’s Administrative Secretary, Mrs Rose Orianran-Anthony had told the traditional ruler that 22 additional centres had been added to Delta for the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration (CVR).
Orianran-Anthony said that these centres were added because of the topography of the state.
She said that so far 2.4 million persons had been registered in Delta.
She, however, expressed her displeasure that most of those who registered had not picked their permanent voter cards ( PVCs).
She appealed to the monarch to use his good offices to help sensitize his subjects to pick their PVCs .
She said that a voice from the palace was a voice from the gods.
Orianran-Anthony also advised the residents of the state to avoid double registration.
She also advised politicians not to start their campaigns now but should wait till when it is 90 days to election.
The INEC Administrative Secretary also said that the PVC would be used to conduct subsequent elections.
The ongoing CVR would be a futile activity if these cards were not picked by prospective voters.