A former Minister of Information and governorship aspirant, Labaran Maku has expressed concern that displaced people in Nasarawa State might not be able to collect their permanent voter cards within the three days set aside.
Consequently, the he has enjoined the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to extend the exercise in the state so as to carry them along.
Maku, according to his media campaign coordinator, . Zakari made the call in Wakama, Nasarawa Eggon Local Government where he received his Permanent Voters’ Card.
The former minister posited that sustained attacks on communities by mercenaries had dislocated huge voting communities who are now taking refuge in different parts of the state.
He said, “As we do this exercise here, one-third of Nasarawa State has been destroyed completely because of the insurgency in parts of Nasarawa South and Nasarawa North Senatorial Districts.
“In the last four months, more than 25 towns and villages have been destroyed completely, razed down, some of them demolished and people chased away completely from their habitations”.
He cited the example of his polling unit in Wakama where over 1000 people registered but less than 200 persons collected their PVCs on the second day of the exercise, insisting that three days won’t be enough for all registered voters to pick up their PVCs.
“For this exercise to succeed, INEC will have to set aside the same period in those communities to conduct a bye-exercise when they eventually return home. If they (INEC) don’t do that, then many of them will not be registered.
“The purpose of this war is to stop people from voting – that’s the reason why the war is taking place – to sack any community that is no longer willing to vote for APC. That is why people are being killed, displaced and communities and habitations being destroyed.
“So, if in the end most of the people who left these areas do not register, then those who sent them away would have realized the objective of dislocating voting populations in order for APC to win the next election in Nasarawa State” he said.
