EC must be commended for reopening voters register - Saddique Boniface

The Member of Parliament for Madina, Boniface Abubakar Saddique, has said that the Electoral Commission must be commended for reopening the voters’registration exercise today.

The EC announced that it will reopen the voters’ registration exercise on Thursday, October 1, 2020. It stated that this was to enable those who have attained the age of eighteen and citizens who for one reason or the other were not able to register in the previous registration exercise.

Commenting on the new exercise today, the Madina MP told Samuel Eshun on the Happy Morning Show: “The EC must be commended. This is because looking at the time we did the registration, some people were only eighteen immediately after the exercise. So if they have put measures in place for the exhibition, then why not give these people the chance to register?"

"We also have people who were not in the country at the time of the registration. We also have military men who were on a peacekeeping mission, hence, did not have the opportunity to register. So this registration exercise gives all these people the opportunity to have their names in the register and exercise their franchise."

"The EC has been flexible in its decisions and has allowed many to register”.

Sharing his view on the duration of the voters’ registration, he noted that the timing may not have been enough for publicity and other important things.

However, since its the first of its kind, the EC must be given the benefit of the doubt.

“Honestly speaking, I would have said that one day for the exercise is not enough. However, being the first time, I would say ‘fine’ because they are the real architects of that position”, he added.

Meanwhile, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has sued the EC over plans to register voters today.

According to the NDC, the EC has not caused to be published in the Gazette, twenty-one (21) days’ notice of this voters’registration to the political parties and the general public. Hence, they seek a declaration that the Electoral Commission has acted ultra vires in its attempt to reopen and/or conduct registration of voters on Thursday, October 1, 2020.