Okey Enekwe, a chieftain of Labour Party (LP) in Anambra, says the current enthusiasm of voters to register is driven by their interest in the party’s presidential candidate Peter Obi.
“Nigerians have seen something different from the quality of candidates that political parties have presented to them to vote for,” Mr Enekwe asserted.
He said this was the first time Nigerians saw a candidate who looked like who would work for their interest and were willing to express their minds in the election.
“It’s no longer news that the Labour Party, through Peter Obi, has become a household name,” he stressed, “even a sitting governor was saying recently that Nigerians want fresh alternatives, they are now obedient.”
Edo governor Godwin Obaseki had days ago warned of a new wave of “Obidients”, threatening to overturn the two major political parties in Nigeria – the All Progressives Congress and his Peoples Democratic Party.
Mr Enekwe reiterated the argument, saying “Our people are tired of how the system is running; nobody has been talking about the challenges of the country and possible solutions to them but Peter Obi.”
The party chief called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to expand its capacity to ensure proper and complete registration of prospective voters.
He said with the number of people seeking to obtain permanent voters cards (PVC), the country might record the highest number of votes with not less than 50 million ballots.
“There is a problem with INEC, they must increase manpower and machines to accommodate the surge in the demand for PVC.
“There has not been an election in which we recorded above 25 milliin to 30 million but in this election, we are looking at a minimum of over 50 million votes because every youth wants to vote,” he said.
Mr Enekwe also attributed the meteoric rise in demand for PVCs to the amendment in the Electoral Act.
According to him, there is an improvement in INEC’s way of conducting elections as a result of the revised Electoral Act which makes room for use of BVAS and electronic transfer of results.
“Nigerians now believe that whatever result that is generated at the polling unit will make sense to the final result that will be announced.”
(NAN)
