Ebonyi lawmaker calls for more Direct Data Capturing Machines

Mr Paulinus Okoro, a legislator in the Ivo Local Government Area Legislative Council of Ebonyi, has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deploy more Direct Data Capturing Machines (DDCM) in the area.

Okoro made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Ishiagu, Ebonyi.

According to him, the deployment of more DDCMs to the local government area will boost voters’ registration and make the process more accessible to prospective voters.

He said that three DDCMs deployed to local government areas were not enough to fast-track the exercise.

The legislator noted that getting more eligible voters registered in Ivo as well as other local government areas of the state was critical to achieving credible elections in 2019.

He commended the Ebonyi Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Prof. Godswill Obioma, for introducing strategies for the mobilisation of eligible voters to register and collect their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs).

He also lauded Gov. Dave Umahi on the declaration of a work-free day to allow civil servants travel to their various communities for the exercise.

“The latest figures released by INEC in Ebonyi indicate that Ivo Local Government Area is the least in first quarter of 2018 Continues Voter Registration (CVR) with about 3,100 registered voters.

“Although the figure is an improvement from previous figures released by INEC, we are not comfortable because more of our eligible voters are yet to be captured.

“Many that turned out to register on daily basis most often go back disappointed, because they were not able to get registered due to large number of prospective voters turning out to register.

“I appeal to INEC to make more registration machines available to boost registration as well as make the process more accessible to the people,’’ Okoro said.