“This voter’s registration has become threat to my marriage as I have been asked by my husband not to come back to his house due to the time I spent outside”

Abdulrazaq Mungadi, Gombe

The difficulty of accessing Permanent Voters Card (PVC) has become a major headache for many residents of Gombe State. Despite the impression given by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), in regard to the smooth nature of accessing the cards, many residents endured on the queue and are already thinking of giving up on the exercise except something is done urgently.

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Hajia Aishatu Bala at a registration center in Shongo Idirisa Primary School, explained that she had been on the queue for two days and was nowhere near to be registered: “This voter’s registration has become threat to my marriage as I have been asked by my husband not to come back to his house due to the time I spent outside.”

Aishatu 28, mother of four, said she slept on a prayer mat at the registration center to get her PVC. She explained that she had nowhere to go, the reason she slept outside even as she lamented that her name was still to be included to the eligible voters list.

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Auwal Muhammad Usman said the voters registration center has become a second home to him. He has spent two days at center before his name could be included in the list: “People feel very bad when you pick 70 – 90 out of over 200 people waiting to be registered. I know many who cancelled the registration due to the process.

“We cannot fault the staff doing the registration. They were given one computer and you cannot expect one system to register 200 people in a day because it must be very slow.”

Malam Hassan who was also waiting to be registered said: “INEC should know that with the deadline announced, centers will defiantly be crowded by people and should have done something to save the situation and get citizens registered. I can tell you that more than 40 percent of dwellers in my area have not registered because of the tedious process.

The extension of the closing date by two weeks could be a hope for those who have not registered. INEC will have to bring in more manpower and improve their workforce.”