Two people were killed and one wounded in the skirmishes which occurred over registration of  voters at Tina Junction in Jos, Plateau State. News Buffet cut up with Information revealing that the trouble started when a group of boys were being escorted by men of the Special Task Force from Rikkos, a Hausa dominated area, to Philips Academy in Yan Trailer area to collect registration materials.

On sighting the youths at Tina area, juicygossyp got information that youths residing at Tina area, a Christian dominated area, who had already got wind that they might be attacked by some Hausa youths at any time began,throwing stones at the Hausa boys and the STF men.
It was at this point the youths residing in the area got hold of one of the Hausa boys, who is adhoc INEC staff with the STF men and descended on him killing him instantly.
The STF men in trying to disperse the mob shot at the group and gunned down one of the boys living the in the area and he also died instantly.

The state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Abdurraman  Akano, who confirmed that two people were killed, however, told Daily Sun that an Hausa youth was killed when he wanted to register in the area  and  was accosted by the residents who asked him to go back to his area of residence to register.
It was at that point that trouble ensued and a boy was instantly killed. Men of the STF who came in to save the situation shot to disperse the crowd and another boy was hit and killed in the process.

The state commissioner of police therefore warned that nobody should prevent anyone from registering as a voter in any center on the basis of ethnicity or religion, saying the state command would not tolerate such obstruction.
In a statement, he said the command would use the lawful power available to it to dissuade anybody from taking for granted the will of government and people of Nigeria on  the Plateau. He appealed to the people of the state to cooperate with INEC and security agencies for the success of the ongoing voters’ registration exercise while assuring all the citizens that their security was maximally guaranteed.
Adamawa
Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Yola, has taken delivery of 500 Direct Data Capturing (DDC) machines, in addition to 2800 pieces earlier delivered to the state to serve 226 electoral units of the state.

The Resident Electoral Commissioner for Adamawa State, Mr. Kassim G. Gaidam, said the additional DDC machines were incontinences in the event of failure of the machines not being able to scan and capture fingerprints.
Gaidam, who fielded questions from newsmen in Yola, yesterday, also disclosed that the Adamawa State office of INEC was expecting delivery of vehicles to the state which would be deployed to most of the difficult terrains of the 2600 electoral units of the state.
The REC who criss-crossed some parts of the state to inspect the ongoing registration exercises, disclosed that the commission was faced with some challenges, which were normal, especially when new equipment were being used.

Some of the challenges the registration officers of INEC faced were location of electoral units, slow pace of some of the DDC machines to capture fingerprints and scan images, logistic and difficult terrains of the location of the units by the registration personnel of INEC.
He also stated that some of the ad hoc staff, who are mostly youth corps members serving in the state had problem of communication with the natives in Hausa and some indigenous languages spoken in Adamawa State but that the commission had promptly addressed that by pairing the corps members with the natives.
Gaidam also disclosed that the commission had promptly addressed some emerging problems in the course of the registration exercise and therefore appealed to the general public to bear with the INEC in that regard.

The commissioner further disclosed that the allowances of the ad hoc staff had been paid to facilitate the exercise and their movements to their places of assignments.
Kogi
Members of All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) in Kogi State yesterday led a protest march to the Resident Electoral Commissioner, Mohammed Ahmadu, complaining about irregularities in the ongoing voters’ registration across the state.
The Chairman of the party, Mallam Yahaya Farouk who led the protest told the INEC boss that the Direct Data Capturing (DDC) machines were being hijacked by some opposition politicians and stationed in their various houses for registration instead of the designated public places where the machines were supposed to be stationed.

He also complained of the slow pace of the operators of the machines, some of who he said were not computer literate saying in some centres only five people were registered per day.
He also alleged that the machines were deliberately taken away from some centres, citing the case of Ogonicha Ward in Ofu Local Government Area of the state where Prince Abubakar Audu, the party’s standard bearer hailed from.

He therefore urged INEC to immediately correct the anomalies so as not to disenfranchise some eligible voters in the state from voting in the general elections.
Responding, the resident electoral commissioner said he was not aware that the machines were being hijacked by some politicians and stationed in unathorised areas but promised to investigate the allegations.
He said 129 DDC machines were sent to the 129 polling units in Ofu Local Government and wondered why some machines were missing from the designated areas as claimed by the ANPP.

The REC who confirmed there were serious anomalies especially during the first and second days of the excercise, however, said machinery had been put in place to ensure that all eligible voters were registered in the exercise.
Daily Sun observed that hundreds of people who trooped out for the registration exercise over the weekend were disappointed as they waited endlessly without being attended to.

Later, in a question and answer session, the INEC boss called on the people to come out en masse and register to enable them perform their civic rights during the forthcoming general elections in the country.
He, however, acknowledged that there were some irregularities and pockets of complaints that characterised the commencement of the exercise in Kogi State on Saturday, adding that some materials did not arrive the state headquarters of INEC in Lokoja until Saturday morning and that was when the materials had to be dispatched to various destinations.

The INEC boss disclosed that a total of 2739 DDC machines were expected in Kogi for the 2548 registration units in the 21 local government areas of the state, stressing that only 2300 DCC machines were received at the commencement of the exercise.
Ahmadu also disclosed that three of the 21 local government areas had to wait till the arrival of the remaining DDC machines before the exercise could commence fully there but gave the assurance that every eligible voter would be given the opportunity to register in the ongoing voters’ registration exercise in those areas.
He said the anomalies would be rectified as the exercise progressed in the state, arguing that this would not disturb anyone from registering as long as they have attained age 18 and above.

On the ad hoc staff, the REC pointed out that arrangements had been put in place to replace any of the corps members who refused to report at his or her duty post, saying that everybody could not be posted to the state capital as some had to work at the rural areas for the period of the exercise.

Ebonyi
Police in Ebonyi have confirmed that the Chief of Staff, Ebonyi State, Hyacinth Ote was questioned by the police over unlawful possession of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Direct Data Capturing (DDC) machine.

The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), ASP U J Eluu told Daily Sun that though Ote was not detained, he was questioned and was allowed to go after explaining the circumstances under which the machine was allegedly found in his possession.
According to police spokesman, the chief of staff was merely giving a helping hand to the INEC ad hoc staff who were stranded after close of work that Saturday evening and were on their way to Abakaliki from Ikwo for the safe keeping of the equipment when the chief of staff ran into them and decided to give them a ride and that it was in the process that police arrested them.

However, reacting to the incident, the state Chairman of APGA, Mr. Jerry Obasi, whose party gave the police the tip off said, “the fact is that the chief of staff was found by the police criminally carrying the DDC machine that belongs to INEC that was made for a particular ward at Ikwo Local Government of Ebonyi State in his possession and police arrested him” but was amused that the police quickly released him instead of keeping him in detention.

Obasi pointed out that at the level of the party, it showed their earlier connivance with the police to rig the elections. “When we are at the period saying we are going to give the police under the Commissioner of Police, Dipo Ayeni some benefit of the doubt to see whether they are going to repent the way NEC says they have repented but in fact, at the level of the party in the state we are suspecting high degree of collaboration between the police and INEC and frown over that for whatever it is. INEC and police should be very, very proactive in ensuring that this election in Ebonyi State does not witness any form of malpractice or rigging. Now that it has started like this, we are so suspicious of the INEC and the police.”

Obasi added that his party was already putting papers at the level of the party in the state to complain to various quarters of INEC and police via the national chairman of INEC and the inspector general of police to bring to book those involved or found wanting in the event of this criminality committed against the people of Ebonyi State by the chief of staff of Ebonyi State under the leadership of Chief Martin Elechi.”
He admitted that it was “my party that made the arrest possible because before now we were suspicious of the antics of PDP, we are more suspicious that the party is more interested in rigging elections than winning elections, so we mapped our secret security agents as earlier agreed by the party to put one in place who are trained by our party to assist the police, INEC and security agencies in the state to checkmate all these malpractices.

Anambra
It took the Deputy Governor of Anambra State, Mr. Emeka Sibeudu and his wife, Mrs. Chinwe Gladys Sibeudu about two hours yesterday to register in the ongoing voters’ registration exercise in their Umunze, Orumba South Local Government.
This was as a result of the persistent problem of the Direct Data Capture (DDC) machines being used by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the exercise, which, in majority of the areas, were either non-functional or ineffective.
Within the first two days of the exercise, the 4,157 DDC machines for the state, which, however, were yet to get to some wards, were not able to register more than 200 persons due to the failure of the scanners.
Consequently, INEC yesterday apologised to the people of the state over its failure to effectively carry out the exercise and assured that there would be improvement in subsequent days.

INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) for the state, Prof. Chukwuemeka Onukogu who gave the apology while speaking with newsmen in his office, admitted the failure, which he described as frustrating and dehumanising but added that it was not intentional.
The REC explained that earlier the commission thought it was sunlight that was disturbing the machines and decided to erect canopies as a stopgap but later yesterday found out that it was as a result of unanticipated system collapse which he further said had been taken care of following directives from INEC headquarters instructing them to pick some information through the computer that had helped the scanners to start working.
Noting that it was not the problem of Anambra alone as different states complained of the same problem, he said, “we have broken the code. The scanners are now working faster, we are trying our best, we are extremely sorry for what has happened, it was not intentional.”

Onukogu, however, commended the state Governor, Mr. Peter Obi and his deputy for their cooperation with the commission in mobilising the people of the state for the exercise, just as he further commended Mr. Sibeudu and wife for their patience at the point of registration.
To further ensure effectiveness of the exercise, the REC said he had grouped staff in three segments in the state that would move to areas like Awka, Onitsha, Nnewi and Ekwulobia to reduce the complaints of residents, urging the people to be more patient with the commission.

Meanwhile, member representing Awka South II Constituency and Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) candidate for Awka North and South Federal Constituency in the forthcoming general elections, Dr. Ozo Ughamadu has complained bitterly that the exercise was not taking place anywhere in his ward.
He told Daily Sun that Nibo Ward III, which had 14 registration centers and which was the ward of the traditional ruler, the president-general of the town and himself had no single machine.
Ughamadu said he had drawn the attention of both the electoral officer in charge of the area and INEC REC to the development all to no avail, noting that if by the end of yesterday, nothing was done he would take it as sabotage.

Kwara
Governor Bukola Saraki o0f Kwara State has promised to provide free meals for Kwarans, who are waiting to get registered at the various voters registration centres across the state.The Governor’s promise came just as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the state lamented that the shortfall in the supply of Direct Data Capture (DDC) machines was hampering the exercise in the state.
According to the state Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Chief Timothy Ibitoye said the commission needed additional 328 DDC machines for effective coverage of the state.
Both governor Saraki and Ibitoye made the statement in Ilorin yesterday at a stakeholders meeting to sensitise residents of the state on the need to participate in the voters registration exercise.

According to the REC, “the state INEC has received 1,685 out of the 2019 DDC machines earmarked for the state, short of 328.  And we have 1,872 registrations units and 193 registration areas.”
Ibitoye said the national headquarters of INEC was addressing some of the hitches currently being experienced in the parts of the country, urging members of the public to participate in the exercise.
While answering a question,Governor Saraki acknowledged that fact that the problems of the shortage of DDC machines and scanners may pose danger to the whole exercise.

His words: “INEC needs to address the problems with DDC machines and scanners so that they can catch up with time.  INEC needs to solve them otherwise they may pose serious danger to the whole exercise,” he said.
He urged all people of voting age to accord the exercise with the seriousness it deserves.
Saraki added that “the credibility of an election is mainly a function of the transparency of the process. I need to emphasise even if for the umpteenth time that credible polls is a must for Nigeria today to enable her regain her lost glory, earn international respect and recognition, enthrone reliable leaders, good governance, accelerated development and above all, make life comfortable for all and sundry.

“There is no gainsaying the fact that one of the primary tools of ensuring free, fair and credible election that would be generally acceptable to all is the existence of voters’ register. Indeed, a credible voters’ register is one of the necessary conditions for ensuring legitimate voting exercise and flawless election. This further explains why voters’ registration exercise constitutes a vital segment of the electoral process that must be accorded full support by all and sundry for successful elections.
“The motive behind this gathering, therefore, is to once more, educate, sensitise and mobilize the stakeholders on the essence of credible voters’ registration exercise. The importance of this exercise to the government and the people cannot be over emphasized. Our eligibility to vote is solely dependent on the acquisition of voter’s card. It is therefore obvious that, to qualify to vote and observe this all important civic responsibility, you must acquire a voter’s card.

“I use this opportunity to implore you particularly those who are of voting age, irrespective of creed, religion, ethnic background or political inclinations to go out en-masse to register. I am positive that INEC is well prepared for the exercise and that it will not suffer dearth of personnel and equipment. I therefore enjoin you to educate, sensitise and mobilize all the people in your domain under your tutelage and areas of jurisdiction to participate in the registration exercise.”
Bauchi

In its continued drive for massive turn out of eligible voters in the on-going INEC voters registration exercise the National Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Professor Attahiru Jega has pleaded with Christian and Islamic leaders in the North-East zone of the country to mobilize their followers to come out and register massively.

Speaking through his Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in the state, Mr. Godfrey Miri on the occasion of the INEC interactive session with religious leaders from the North-East Geo-political zone held in Gombe last Monday, the National Chairman explained that religious leaders have the responsibility of leading their adherents aright.

He further stated that it has been a very challenging period for the Commission, yet it has tried to approach these challenges with condor as it is conscious of the great expectations of Nigerians on the success of the electoral process appealing for understanding and prayers for the enormous responsibilities which it has to face from the beginning.

The INEC National Chairman who gave account of the score card of the Commission to date said as a Commission, they were forthright and forth coming with problems confronting it because of the abiding commitment towards ensuring that Nigerians have full ownership of whatever action taken by the commission.
He added that INEC is very ready for the voters’ registration exercise which will run to the end of the month explaining that the exercise would take place between 9 am and 5 pm daily in all the 120,000 units nationwide disclosing that the Commission has procured Direct Data Capture (DDC) equipment to be used during the exercise and the aim is to put one DDC machine in each unit holding strong believe that this would ensure the success of the registration as post registration process would be made easier to handle.

According to Professor Jega, after the registration, Nigerians are expected to cross check their names during the display of the register to ensure that the names are properly spelt as the DDC machine has been deployed to the Local Government Areas where they would be made available for use by registration officials.
In his address t the occasion, Gombe state Governor , Alhaji Mohammed Danjuma Goje  said historically, religious leaders were role models in the society and their words carry a lot of weight thereby making them very important in information dissemination, sensitization, mobilization and shaping of the mindset.

The Governor who was represented by the SSG, Abubakar Sule Bage also stated that since in the eyes of followers of the different religious faiths the leadership roles of the religious leaders cannot be over emphasized adding that the interactive session was not only timely and apt but critical especially at this time when the nation is preparing for the forth coming voters registration exercise as well as the general elections.

Danjuma Goje also said that he has no doubt that the religious leaders would greatly contribute in properly informing their followers and dousing off tension whenever the need arises and urged them participate fully in the interactive session and should never relent in fervent prayers for God’s guidance and protection as well as for the peaceful conduct of the forth coming elections.