Human rights and civil society groups on Monday stormed the state office of Independent National Electoral Commission in Yaba, Lagos, protesting the hiccups associated with the on-going voter registration.

From the INEC office, they proceeded to the state Governors office in Alausa, Ikeja, where they were joined by the Coalition for Democratic Reform and the Campaign for Democracy.

Other human and civil society groups who took part in the protest were the Coalition of Youths and Civil Society, the Network for Good Governance, Coalition of Democrats for Electoral Reform, Coalition for A Better Nigeria, Coalition of Youths and Civil Society, June 12 Coalition and National Youth Council of Nigeria.

As they marched through the busy Herbert Macaulay Road, Ikorodu Road, Mobolaji Bank-Anthony Way to Alausa, the placard-carrying protesters sang songs reflecting their displeasure with the registration in the state.

Some of the placards were inscribed with different messages such as “Jega is doing Jaja Jaga registration” “We say no to Jaga Jaga registration” “Jega, do not steal our votes” and “We shall fight rigging to the last.”

Others read “poor registration, poor election,” “No wuru wuru registration; no to fake machines,” “Fashola, shine your eyes, Lagosians say no to direct dubious computers, our N75bn cannot buy original machines, we need two weeks extension.”

Their movements caused traffic build up at the Jibowu axis of Ikorudu Road and a standstill on all the road networks leading to the office of Governor Babatunde Fashola in Alausa.

At the Governor’s office, the CDR National Coordinator, Chief Ayo Opadokun, presented a protest letter to Fashola.

The letter which was addressed to President Goodluck Jonathan was titled, “Nine Days After: Nigerians Totally Reject the Poor On-going Voters Registration Exercise.”

Fashola promised to deliver the letter to Jonathan before the close of work on Monday, saying the first week of the voter registration showed INEC’s unpreparedness for the exercise.

He said, “I have taken my time in the last one week to move round the state to monitor the exercise, thankfully. Nigerians are prepared to participate, unfortunately INEC is not, they are not prepared adequately.

“In some areas, they are yet to see the machines, while some only just got yesterday (Sunday).

“In some cases, there were complaints of broken down machines, no print out, incomplete capturing of the 10 fingerprints, duplicate of the cards were issues.”

Fashola, who also urged Lagosians to be patient and resilients asked, “Who is receiving the original cards? INEC must come out and clarify these grey areas.”

He advised that the present hiccups should not discourage residents of the state from ensuring their registration during the exercise.

The governor said, “Whatever it takes to register now, we must sacrifice; we must get it right otherwise we will be compelled to repeat this exercise.

“Having started, we must get it right. We must be ready to be patient for a few weeks because we do not want to suffer for four years.”

The groups, while at Yaba, had urged the INEC Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, to extend the voter registration by two weeks in order not to disenfranchise many Nigerians.

The Chairman, Lagos Area Axis of the National Association of Nigerian Students , Mr. Olanrewaju Ogundipe, told the state’s Resident Electoral Commissioner , Dr. Adekunle Ogunmola, the “poor registration” was an attempt to rig the next elections.

Ogundipe said, “We are here to express our grievances about the ongoing voters registration exercise.

“It is not going on well. The DDC machines are not working well. If the situation continues this way, millions of Nigerians, especially students will be disenfranchised. If the exercise ends on Saturday, it will be another form of rigging the coming election.”

He added that students wanted INEC “to extend the duration of the exercise by another two to three weeks so that everybody could register.”

“The elections will be a sham if nothing is done to address several anomalies, hiccups, lapses and irregularities trailing the exercise in Lagos and other parts of country,” Ogundipe said.

Also , Coordinator of the NGG, Mr. Oluremi Olaleye, who described the exercise as a sham, also called for its extension to give every Nigerian opportunity to register.

“More than 80 percent of eligible residents have not been able to register. As I am talking, only five per cent have registered in Lagos,” he claimed.

In his reaction, Ogunmola said that the commission had taken cognisance of all the complaints by the groups.

He said, “I can assure you that we will not wind up this exercise until all intending voters are registered. We want to make sure we give Nigeria the best. All eligible voters must be captured before we can conclude the exercise.

“We now have many more DDC machines. By Saturday, we will know whether lots of people have been captured or not.

“Definitely, whatever happens by Saturday will determine whether the voter registration deadline will be extended or not.

“All we need is patience. Any attempt to disrupt this exercise will not be good. It has started on a faulty note, it will end well. I can give you assurance that the exercise will be extended.”