The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Ebonyi says it will collaborate with traditional rulers to mobilise rural communities to fully participate in the electoral process.
Prof. Godswill Obioma, the State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), stated this on Friday in Abakaliki, when he briefed newsmen on the outcome of a meeting held between the Commission and traditional rulers preparatory to the 2019 general elections.
Obioma explained that traditional rulers had influence among their subjects and live with them in their rural communities, saying that the support of the royal fathers would be useful in mobilising rural participation in the electoral process.
The resident electoral commissioner noted that the meeting with the traditional rulers was imperative in view of their strategic importance to information dissemination in rural areas as well as closeness to their subjects.
He said: “Majority of the electorate live in hinterlands especially women and youths, hence the need to solicit cooperation, collaboration and support of the royal fathers who wield great influence among their subjects.
“We must explore every avenue and opportunity available to ensure that the conduct of the 2019 general elections is credible and that it meets the expectations of the electorate in the state. “
He said that the meeting was centred on five key issues which included mapping out ways to mobilise women and improve their participation in the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration (CVR), create strategies to enhance collection of unclaimed Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs).
He said that ensuring how to mobilise the grassroots through proper sensitisation to come out and register and how to move the registration machines from place to place to get every eligible voter registered were among other critical issues discussed in the meeting.
He said that the Commission was determined to explore ways of improving on the number of eligible voters turning out to participate in the CVR, which he noted was on a continuous decline.
“In the first quarter of the CVR, we recorded 40,000 registrants, while the number declined to 20,000 during the second quarter with more men registering.
“The drop in the number of registrants coupled with fewer female eligible voters coming out to register are posing some concern to the Commission.
“We are also disturbed that no fewer than 50,000 unclaimed PVCs are domiciled in all INEC’s local government area offices and the state headquarters since 2014, ” he added.
He said that INEC headquarters in Abuja had approved the delineation of additional 370 registration centres, with 10 registration centre for each state and the Federal Capital Territory to enhance the ongoing CVR.
“We have gotten 10 more registration centres in the state and we are going to sit down with stakeholders and work out how to spread the centres, ” he added.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports that no fewer than 30 traditional rulers from various Ebonyi communities attended the meeting held at the Ebonyi Council of Traditional Rulers’ chambers. (NAN)