Delta State Government has put all mechanisms in place to ensure all eligible voters participate in the on-going continuous voter registration (CVR) and has subsequently direct all political appointees to mobilize to the grassroots for sensitization.
This, the state government said is to ensure that the Delta has a good number of votes for the forthcoming general elections.
The Commissioner for Information, Mr Charles Aniagwu, made this known today at a press briefing in his office in Asaba.
Aniagwu clarified that state government interest was in the exercise was not based on party interest but rather to give the state a good weight to be able to reckon with states like Lagos and Kano.
The commissioner went further to say that in ensuring this, the government had mandated all its political appointees to go to their communities to ensure the sensitization of their people participate in the on-going voter registration exercise.
According to him, similar directive had been given to the state electronic and print media to provide platforms for free publicity for the activities of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the state and for the State Bureau of Orientation to intensify its sensitization and education on the (CVR) exercise.
Aniagwu explained that the CVR exercise would enable those that have relocated from their place of registration to vote in their present location, as well those that have attained voting age over the years, adding that it was also an opportunity to correct any abnormality with their registration status.
The commissioner also said that the state was hoping that the National Assembly would support INEC in all areas to ensure that the exercise was hitch-free to enable all eligible voters exercise their civic right and responsibility in the next general elections.
He explained that the registration was in two phases, saying that the first was online registration, stressing it could be done anywhere and the second which he emphasized, would involve the biometric capture to be done in INEC office to make the onlinr registration complet.
In response on how many persons has complied so far, the commissioner said that it was low compared to expectations, hence, mechanisms were being put in place to ensure that the numbers increase.
The commissioner said hopefully more than three million Delta residents, which he said is more than half of the estimated total population of Deltans as projected based on the 2006 Census, would vote come 2023.