Hundreds of youths in Enugu yesterday staged a peaceful protest over inadequate Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) machines in the Enugu metropolis.
The youths lamented that only one registration machine was attending to over 1,500 intending registrants at the popular Okpara Square in Enugu.
The youths numbering about 1,000 marched to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) headquarters in the state calling for the deployment of more machines.
The youths, who barricaded the INEC headquarters and the adjourning street, carried placards that read: “Give Us More Machines”; “INEC Stop Stressing Us”; and “Some of Us Have Spent 3 Days on a Simple Exercise”.
Addressing the protesters, Mr Rex Achumie, Head of Department (HOD), Voter Education and Publicity of INEC in the state, promised that the commission would deploy additional two CVR machines immediately to Okpara Square.
Achumie, who spoke on behalf of the state’s Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) who was on official duty to Abuja, also assured the youths that more machines would be deployed to Okpara Square on Wednesday, June 22, bringing the CVR machines to at least five.
“I will personally supervise to see that the commission decongest the high number of CVR registrants in Okpara Square and ensure they are being taken care of.
“I am also appealing to you (youths) to also use other CVR registration centres especially the ones scattered in various local government areas to see that the crowd at Okpara Square is reduced,” he said.
