Registered in my hometown yesterday,easy thing as there were just two people ahead of me.mehn Village dry o!

I am not going to register because am not ready to stand on cue from 5.00 am till 4.00 pm.
That has been the nature of ongoing registration in my area.

Yes I have.

When is the voter's registration exercise expiring? Did they still extend the deadline??

I registered yesterday but i discovered that politicians have hijacked the whole thing paying young children to register only to collect the card from them and

pay them a token amount.this is one of the strategy of election rigging.what is inec doing about this cuz i'm sure those children voters' card would be used for

multiple voting.

I have,thanks

unfortunately no. the queues r very discouraging sadly. at me area only an average of 22 people get registered each day

Finally registered yesterday after four tries.
unfortunately i doubt it will make a difference.
The level of Jega's ineptitude makes me wonder if he can organise a piss up in a brewery.
The registration process is so messed up that i wonder how he can organise an election in April.

The enthusiasm of the populates is heart wrenching.
men and women are giving up their sources of livelihood for hours, queuing in the sun and verbally abused simply because they want their voices to be heard.
Jega seems oblivious of these and is stumbling around in the dark.
If this election does not count, then Tunisia style might not be very far off.

mbulela:

Finally registered yesterday after four tries.
unfortunately i doubt it will make a difference.
The level of Jega's ineptitude makes me wonder if he can organise a piss up in a brewery.
The registration process is so messed up that i wonder how he can organise an election in April.

The enthusiasm of the populates is heart wrenching.
men and women are giving up their sources of livelihood for hours, queuing in the sun and verbally abused simply because they want their voices to be heard.
Jega seems oblivious of these and is stumbling around in the dark.
If this election does not count, then Tunisia style might not be very far off.

Jega is not going to be everywhere at once, sorry. i find many of these criticisms to be totally brainless. he is just one man, why can't you people get this through your thick skulls?

This is coming from someone who spent 8 hours on the queue to register yesterday, yet i am realistic and sensible in my criticisms.

PS: Any 'Tunisia-esque' revolution in Nigeria will be swiftly hijacked by fundamentalists. This would be the dream of the likes of Osama bin Laden. We don't want to go down that route, trust me.

texazzpete:

Jega is not going to be everywhere at once, sorry. i find many of these criticisms to be totally brainless. he is just one man, why can't you people get this through your thick skulls?

This is coming from someone who spent 8 hours on the queue to register yesterday, yet i am realistic and sensible in my criticisms.

PS: Any 'Tunisia-esque' revolution in Nigeria will be swiftly hijacked by fundamentalists. This would be the dream of the likes of Osama bin Laden. We don't want to go down that route, trust me.

so why the insults?
it makes you sound very childish.

who expects Jega to be everywhere?
When did i claim he is Omnipresent?
The whole exercise has been poorly planned and executed.
That is the crux of the matter and that is down to no one else but jega.
things like police using horse whips on people and the cards being sold are not jega's fault and those are not the crux of the matter.
if this process had been properly planned and executed, you would not need 8 hours to register.

I am not a fan of the tunisia style but the lack of hope in the system makes such options look attractive despite the imagined futility of its end (in our case).
You can never guarantee the option a hopeless people will take.
weeks ago no one could bet such was possible in the arab world.

texazzpete:

Jega is not going to be everywhere at once, sorry. i find many of these criticisms to be totally brainless. he is just one man, why can't you people get this through your thick skulls?

This is coming from someone who spent 8 hours on the queue to register yesterday, yet i am realistic and sensible in my criticisms.

PS: Any 'Tunisia-esque' revolution in Nigeria will be swiftly hijacked by fundamentalists. This would be the dream of the likes of Osama bin Laden. We don't want to go down that route, trust me.

You are the one sounding brainless here. Please again, STOP!!!!

I bet you saw how the BP Oil spill in America was handled. You saw how the CEO, who was not there when it all went down and who did not himself sign off on all the deals, got the blame? You saw that right? Why are you unable to see this in the same way?
The man put together this exercise and got the money to do it. He designed this whole thing and so he ought to take the blame -- that is usually how it works. Are you OK?

^^^^

Only a senile old hag would compare a mere corporation president with ruling a country.


For starters, the CEO was appointed to do a job, GEJ was never elected.  Where is the similarity?

Kobo is brainless and demented,IMO

^^^^^
how about comparing the CEO with Jega?
both were appointed, you know?

^^^^

The guy already answered you

Jega cannot be everywhere at once.

He is not the CEO and the spill is everywhere, not just at one spot.

And, his employees were not hired by him, he did not train the graduates and they do not operate up to the started he would have wanted, unlike the employees of BP

It is just a very stupidd analogy IMO to compare a political appointee in a very unstable, volatile, rough terrain with the CEO of a multinational operating in s very structured,well controlled environment. Cant you just see how ridiculous it is?

Kobojunkie:

You are the one sounding brainless here. Please again, STOP!!!!

I bet you saw how the BP Oil spill in America was handled. You saw how the CEO, who was not there when it all went down and who did not himself sign off on all the deals, got the blame? You saw that right? Why are you unable to see this in the same way? Are you OK?

I expect REALISTIC criticism here, sorry. If i wanted miracles, i'd have gone for Pastor Chris. One man cannot turn around a stale, creaking behemoth in a few months. He can start the process, certainly.
If YOU were given the role, perhaps there are certain things you may have done differently. But at the end of the day, it still boils down to well over a hundred thousand registration centres, hundreds of thousands of corps members, crazy logistics and the inescapable task of dealing with thousands of corrupt and crooked Nigerians.

I spent 8 hours on the queue yesterday. it took about 5 - 10 minutes per person. The center had one unit that could only accommodate about 100 people daily. hundreds of people got there and hundreds were turned back. Why? because using an old map, the INEC rep for Rivers State had decided that my area was sparsely populated. The reverse is the case.

Jega sits in INEC headquarters, coordinating the whole exercise. He relies on his people with local knowledge of the areas to decide where best to place the machines. Will i now blame Jega for the insufficient number of polling units in my area? NO!

The buck stops with the leader, yes, but to label him as useless and inept for a situation where only a miracle worker could have made a difference is just silly. As far as i am concerned, the exercise started poorly but has since improved up to an acceptable level. Thanks to his insistence on electronic registration, we now have a unique chance to significantly empower our law enforcement agencies with the tools to instantly identify criminals. This is a big deal, lemme tell you.

May i also remind you two that the voters registration is not yet over? With the extension, if all the eligible voters are registered it will be a success. It may have cost us an extra 7 billion naira in the process, but that's an acceptable price to pay. Please remember that if BP had spent some more money than originally projected to drill that well safely, the spill disaster would not have occurred.

That is my position.

fstranger1:

^^^^

The guy already answered you

Jega cannot be everywhere at once.

He is not the CEO and the spill is everywhere, not just at one spot.

And, his employees were not hired by him, he did not train the graduates and they do not operate up to the started he would have wanted, unlike the employees of BP

It is just a very stupidd analogy IMO to compare a political appointee in a very unstable, volatile, rough terrain with the CEO of a multinational operating in s very structured,well controlled environment. Cant you just see how ridiculous it is?

I don't know why they just don't get it. Some people make a career out of being OUTRAGED at everything.
I challenge either of them to tell us how they'd have done much better if they had been in charge.

Even cases of greedy policemen, unruly crowds and laptop theft are being blamed on Jega. The same Jega is the one that is responsible for the siting of the machines in Potiskum, in Obiaruku, in Magodo, in Ohafia. The same Jega that should have personally disbursed transport fare to corpers moving from the corpers lodge in Choba to their polling Units. The same Jega that will personally charge all laptops and inverters prior to roll out. The same Jega that should have personally pored over the list of over 100,000 corpers to ensure that only those that were trained were used.

Then they demand that he resigns. Resign for who, a demigod? When they can nominate one Nigerian who has proven his omniscience and omnipotence, i will agree with them.

The blame may stop at Jega's table, fine. But he has taken good steps to improve, to regain lost ground. Recovery planning is not ubiquitous in Nigeria.

texazzpete:

The buck stops with the leader, yes, but to label him as useless and inept for a situation where only a miracle worker could have made a difference is just silly.

So you do accept that the buck stops with the leader here. Now, if YOU do not see what the others see, then  you probably will not understand why they label him what you claim they do. And no, I don't think all the criticism has been misplaced. For one INEC pretending to blame the corp-ers for not being computer literate was just ridiculous. I read INEC eventually had to send technicians into the field to install upgrades on many of the machines, to get things working more smoothly, even after that. That said It makes sense that the people will blame him(since the buck stops at his desk) for the failures, as well as the successes, of this exercise.

Regardless of the way the information is collected, I believe the goal was not simply to get as many people registered but ensure that the registration was done correctly this time around.

texazzpete:

May i also remind you two that the voters registration is not yet over? With the extension, if all the eligible voters are registered it will be a success. It may have cost us an extra 7 billion naira in the process, but that's an acceptable price to pay.

Yes, voters registration is not over yet BUT again, I don't believe the intention was simply to register ALL ELIGIBLE VOTERS. I believe the reason we dumped the data from the last registration was because we did not trust the integrity of the data collected. There have been some signs that the same abnormalities may be present even with this current exercise. So even if we end up with 60 million registered, but it turns out that over 20% of that data is useless  do we still consider this a success simply because we electronically registered 60 million people?

texazzpete:

Please remember that if BP had spent some more money than originally projected to drill that well safely, the spill disaster would not have occurred.
That is my position.

I don't believe the BP issue was simply a case of "if more money had been spent, we would not have had the problem", so I don't see what you are getting at with that. The point I was making with the BP instance was, regardless of who actually signed the deals and worked on the pipes, the buck still stopped at the CEO's office. As it also should in Jega's case.

Kobojunkie:

So you do accept that the buck stops with the leader here. Now, if YOU do not see what the others see, then you probably will not understand why they label him what you claim they do. However it makes sense that the people will blame him(since the buck stops at his desk) for the failures, as well as the successes, of this exercise.

Regardless of the way the information is collected, I believe the goal was not simply to get as many people registered but ensure that the registration was done correctly this time around.

Yes, voters registration is not over yet BUT again, I don't believe the intention was simply to register ALL ELIGIBLE VOTERS. I believe the reason we dumped the data from the last registration was because we did not trust the integrity of the data collected. There have been some signs that the same abnormalities may be present even with this current exercise. So even if we end up with 60 million registered, but it turns out that over 20% of that data is useless do we still consider this a success simply because we electronically registered 60 million people?

Even as an offhand, rough estimate, you should be ashamed of yourself for that 20% figure. I doubt the true figure will be more than 1%. There are only so many Chadian and Niger people you can smuggle across. Duplicate fingerprints can be detected and weeded out.
The electronic data capture method will result in far fewer fake registrations, will weed out mass thumbprinting and will present the Nigerian Government with a database of most Nigerian adults. That's a WIN in my book.

Kobojunkie:

I don't believe the BP issue was simply a case of "if more money had been spent, we would not have had the problem", so I don't see what you are getting at with that. The point I was making with the BP instance was, regardless of who actually signed the deals and worked on the pipes, the buck still stopped at the CEO's office. As it also should in Jega's case.

in the BP case, many safety concerns were brushed aside or downplayed to allow the well to be drilled and completed on time. if you know anything about the oil industry, time = money. The rig alone would have been costing BP hundreds of thousands of dollars daily. Please read up about it.
Also note that BP came under fire as a company. The CEO came under intense fire only when his attitude was deemed to be disrespectful, deceitful and somewhat uncaring. The whole episode could easily have ended with him keeping his job.

texazzpete:

Even as an offhand, rough estimate, you should be ashamed of yourself for that 20% figure. I doubt the true figure will be more than 1%. There are only so many Chadian and Niger people you can smuggle across. Duplicate fingerprints can be detected and weeded out.

umm . . .  No, I believe 20 % in Nigeria is a reasonable estimate, until proven otherwise. You don't have to smuggle foreigners in, thousands of them are already in Nigeria --  many have been for decades, so I don't see why you would need to "smuggle" them in.  On duplicates, No, they are not that easily detectable considering tweaks, I believe, may have been made after the issues of the first week. I remember a corper reporting that now you can even register using tissue paper print. There is also the problem of underage individuals being able to register in the north, as well as the fact that the data collected remains local, and open to tampering, until it is eventually backed-up to the INEC system(wherever and however often that even happens).

So, yes, data can be filtered but you would need a miracle to filter out some of the above, and since you claim you are not looking for miracles, then I suggest we not preach that electronic registration is the miracle cure of all our issues.

texazzpete:

The electronic data capture method will result in far fewer fake registrations, will weed out mass thumbprinting and will present the Nigerian Government with a database of most Nigerian adults. That's a WIN in my book.

I thought you said you were not into miracles . . . even the microsoft cannot make the guarantees you are making of electronic data capture there. Yes it does but to an extent. It still relies on data being entered accurately.

Take for instance nairaland.com. The counter shows there are about .6 million people registered. However, the admin will likely tell you that more than 20% of that number are from duplicates or bots. Here in the US, we still use paper registration, and like I said, electronic is not a solve all.

texazzpete:

in the BP case, many safety concerns were brushed aside or downplayed to allow the well to be drilled and completed on time. if you know anything about the oil industry, time = money. The rig alone would have been costing BP hundreds of thousands of dollars daily. Please read up about it.
Also note that BP came under fire as a company. The CEO came under intense fire only when his attitude was deemed to be disrespectful, deceitful and somewhat uncaring. The whole episode could easily have ended with him keeping his job.

I did read up on BP( I still follow up on reports on the issue) and yes, I still do not believe it was all a matter of "If more money had been thrown at the rigs, the problem would not have happened at all".  Yes, he lost his job in the end, but regardless the buck still stopped at his desk . .  that is the point of introducing that example in here.

I'm halfway registered what's left is to collect my registration slip. I'll do that on Monday.

Jega dey try a beg o.
i have registered and collected my card immediately.
the distribution of machines were checked with previous voting records in areas.
you dont expect INEC to send 20 machines to place that has only 10,000 voters on record.
my entire estate got only 2 machines and the lines were endless, but my home town got 12 machines because we had lots of registered voters in my town from previous elections.
i just travelled home and registered because i always vote in my home town

I did register 2day.

Registered today,
pls tell GEJ that he just got one more vote against him

BB2011

I am sorry I dont think I will register because none of the candidates are good enough IMHO
I think I have somehow given up on Nigeria
Its going to be choose one of the lesser evils since they are all EVIL

21-05-2011:

I am sorry I dont think I will register because none of the candidates are good enough IMHO
I think I have somehow given up on Nigeria
Its going to be choose one of the lesser evils since they are all EVIL

Why are you people so fixated on the presidential elections? What about the house of assembly, the senate, the gubernatorial elections? Aren't you aware it's the same voters card you'll use for them all?

Vote not, complain not!

Yes, I have.
inform RIBADU pls, . . . it's +1 vote.

Ofcourse it is the same voters reg card for the whole offices. choose wisely

texazzpete:

Why are you people so fixated on the presidential elections? What about the house of assembly, the senate, the gubernatorial elections? Aren't you aware it's the same voters card you'll use for them all?

Vote not, complain not!

well you have a point there

am now a confirmed voter. GEJ for life

Some politicians now pay group of people to register multiple times with fake identities and collecting their registration cards. Could this be a way to ring the election?

Buhari has been a GOC,pioneer chairman of NNPC,Minister of petroleum,head of state,Chairman of PTF and so many other top positions.
Buhari does not have a house in Lagos or Abuja,he has only two houses,a modest one in Kaduna and another in his village daura which he inherited from his father.
Gen Buhari does not own a filling station not to talk of an oil well.the first lady by her asset declaration is far richer than Buhari not to talk of her husband, both of whom have not half the positions Buhari has held.some commissioners,house of assembly members,local govt chairmen are richer than buhari not to talk of Sinators,Representathieves,Govs,Ministers etc,this are the same people than want the status quo to be maintained,so the can continue to steal with impunity,how can GEJ do in 4yrs what his party could not do in 12,lets not be so gullible and fool ourselves or allow them to take ur for a ride again.
Wouldn't u be happy to see those theiving politicians behind bars,light,rule of law etc, vot Buhari-Bakare