The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has lamented poor voters registration in Kaduna State, saying that the state has dropped from number three in 2019 to 15th position in recent times, IgbereTV reports.
In a paper presentation on Thursday to sensitise Ulamas and other Islamic leaders on the need to take the Continuous Voters Registration (CRV) seriously in the state, the Resident Electoral Commissioner, Kaduna State, Dr Asmau Sani Maikudi, blamed insecurity, inadequate sensitization, among the reasons for the rapid decline in voters’ registration.
According to Dr Maikudi, “When you look at the figures of 2019 general elections in terms of voters registration, Lagos came first, Kano second and Kaduna third.
“We began voters registration in June last year, we did the first quarter, second quarter and now we are in the third quarter, and what we are seeing is that Kaduna is not doing very well, so we felt that we should engage stakeholders and sensitise them.
“We keep on telling the people to come register, and that it is not a new registration. The people who are now 18 years can now come and register.
“And I want to use this opportunity to the people that it is not true that the 2011 voter cards are no longer useful. It is not true.
“Over the years, Kaduna State has always been third nationwide after Lagos and Kano in terms of voter registration figures. However, in recent times poor turnout of prospective registrants has pushed the figures down.
“This can be attributed to a number of factors which include insecurity, network downtime, lack of adequate sensitization, and inability to carry out the rotation.
“The problem of insecurity which has been affecting the exercise in the state was brought to fore in the first phase of the exercise with the non-conduct of the registration in Birnin-Gwari LGA since commencement after a security incident which affected our personnel.
“There’s also the partial conduct of the registration in some LGAS due to the activities of bandits and kidnappers, which led to the shutdown of Telecommunication Services in seven (7) LGAS across the State.
