Voters Registration: INEC impressed with people's turn out

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) officer in Osogbo Local Government area in Osun State, Mr Leke Hassan has disclosed that the people of the State have been coming out in mass to register in preparation for the coming election in the State.

Mr Hassan who stated this during an interview with our reporter at the INEC office in Osogbo, also said there has been no record of violence as as the people have been very cooperative.

He commended the Governor of the State, Mr Rauf Aregbesola for creating the proper awareness about the registration process.

He however, denied the allegation that people are being stressed and delayed before being registered.

His words," We don't delay people here, we only attend to them in batches. Initially when the registration started, our gate was wide open and people came in freely but then they got aggressive so we had to start locking the gate and taking them in in batches.

"There are three machines here, one for the registration, one for back up and the other for PDF, so basically, we have only one operational machine to register people in this Local Government but we are managing the situation well and everything is under control.

Speaking on the allegation that the commission wasn't registering the normal number of people daily which is 60, Mr Hassan described it as a baseless lie, saying more than the required number of people are registered at times.

Asked if politicians are bringing underage to register, Mr Hassan said there was no way any body could do such and that even if it happens, the commission would detect it as part of the requirements for registration is a duplicate of the person's birth certificate.

One of the people waiting to be registered who identified herself as simply Mariam however, said the registration process is really time consuming.

Her words," The stress is much and our time is being wasted. Imagine, I was told to come by 7am and that by 10am, I would have finished the registration but look at the time now, this is after 11am and I am still waiting to be called inside. Only batch one is inside now."

Another lady, Ramat, said almost the same thing as Mariam. She condemned the delay before being able to register.