A former member of the Senate, Ayo Arise has called for the extension of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Continuous Voters Registration exercise in Oye-Ekiti, Oye Local Government area of Ekiti State.
Arise also called for the removal of the INEC Electoral Officer (EO) for Oye Local Government, Mrs G.O. Adekanbi, alleging that the Electoral Officer was manipulating the registration process in connivance with some functionaries of the All Progressives Congress (APC) government in the State.
In a release issued on Monday, and made available to newsmen, Arise said INEC ought to have made a special provision for Oye-Ekiti because of the increase in population owing to the establishment of a University in the town.
He said he was not impressed with the INEC handling of the Voters Registration exercise, adding that it was wrong for INEC not to have envisaged an increase in the population of Oye-Ekiti despite the increment in population as a result of the establishment of a Federal University in the town.
“Oye-Ekiti population has increased by over 5,000 since the University commenced academic activities and majority of the students of the University must be less than 18 years during the last INEC Voters Registration.
“INEC should have known that it will contend with the registration of close to 5,000 new voters in Oye-Ekiti and the commission should have made adequate provision for it. But as it is, majority of the students have not been able to register, with some of them having to be lured with money by functionaries of APC government in the State to register in neighbouring towns.
“It is therefore my plea to the INEC Chairman, Prof Attahiru Jega to extend the voters registration in Oye-Ekiti so as to accommodate thousands of students of the Federal University, Oye-Ekiti that have not registered,” Arise said.
