No manual voter registration for upcoming Naija elections

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061203...iapoliticspoll



The head of Nigeria's electoral body has ruled out a return to manual registration for the 2007 general elections even as most Nigerians slam the ongoing exercise by inefficient electronic machines which they say could hamper the poll.

"Regardless of the amount of pressure, we are not going to subject this country to a manual register where somebody can have 10 votes, depending on his whims and caprices," Maurice Iwu said late Saturday in Abuja at a public forum organised by the police on preparations for the 2007 poll.

"It has to be one man, one vote. There is no going back on that pledge: that electronic register is going to be a determining factor in knowing who is supposed to vote and who is not supposed to vote," he said.

He also emphasised the importance of "effective policing" to have a free and fair poll in 2007."

"We have tried to reduce the possibility of violence...snatching of ballot boxes. We must join the police in securing the environment where elections are held," he said and argued in favour of equipping the police adequately for the elections.

"We have to come to terms with reality...Security does not come cheap," Iwu said.

The lower house of parliament in Abuja had last Thursday summoned Iwu after a massive drive to put all over-18s on the electoral roll was beset by technical problems and fell far behind schedule.

Iwu reported that only four million out of 60 million eligible voters had been registered in the first month. The electoral head insisted the remaining 56 million over-18s could be processed in the two weeks remaining until the December 14 deadline.

The lawmakers criticised the use of hi-tech polling e-machines which store voters' thumbprints and photographs, but proved ineffective in a demonstration in October.

So far only 15,000 electronic machines have been deployed although 33,000 were judged necessary to fulfil the demand of the populous nation's mandatory registration, Iwu said.

Presidential and general elections are scheduled for April next year and President Olusegun Obasanjo, who has been in office since May 1999, is expected to hand over power on May 29.

The April 2007 poll is expected to lead in May to the first democratic handover to a new government since Nigeria gained independence from Britain in October 1960.