The monthly environmental sanitation exercise for the month of July usually conducted every last Saturday, has been cancelled by the Akwa Ibom State government.
The commissioner for Information and Strategy, Comrade Iniobong Ememobong, in a statement on Friday, explained that Governor Udom Emmanuel, gave the directive following the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC’s) decision to end the continuous voter registration exercise today (Sunday).
“There will be no restrictions of movement during the monthly environmental sanitation for Saturday, July 30, 2022.
“This is to enable eligible voters without Permanent Voters Card (PVC) to beat Sunday’s deadline by INEC, to end the continuous registration exercise.
“Therefore, this decision is to enable eligible voters from 18 years and above without the facility to avail themselves of the opportunity to avoid being disenfranchised”, the statement reads.
However, checks by our Correspondent revealed that INEC in the State has decentralized the registration exercise from its secretariat along Udo Udoma Avenue, Uyo, the State capital to other locations on the metropolis and its environs.
Speaking to Leadership yesterday, the State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Mr. Igini, ruled out further extension of the exercise, explaining that the decision to end the exercise, was to enable the Commission enough time “to compile accurate registered voters and sorting out of multiple registrants”.
“There won’t be no further extension because during the last extensions many people went to sleep, so even if the extension is done again, people will still not comply”, he stressed.
He added that officials of the Commission have been drafted to the 329 political wards spread across the 31 Local Government Areas to enable the electorates have easy access to be enlisted as the exercise ends today.
