[NEWS] People spending days at INEC registration center in Bauchi

Many in Bauchi are spending days on queue to register in the ongoing continued voter registration, Daily Trust has found.

Findings at a centre located in Bauchi metropolis revealed that some people sleep over at the gates of the centre for days to get registered.

When our reporter visited the centre on Tuesday, he saw a lot of people mostly women at the gate of the registration centre.

One of the women who spoke to our correspondent said that she was given the form to fill about three days ago but she has not submitted because of the number of the people coming to the centre every day.

"I am here since 6:00 am but they have not collected our forms. I am going to pray and stay back for a while but I don't think I will get registered today," she said.

Another woman who spoke to our reporter on telephone, Nafi Faruq said that she had been going to the centre for over a month but she has not been registered. 

"I cannot register for the exercise in 2015 because of some reasons. Now that I want to register, I have been here almost every day for over 30 days. Some people sleep here just to get the voters card. I saw a woman with two Hijabs who slept over here just to get the voters card‎,"she said.

A Bauchi based legal practitioner, Barrister Isah Mohammed who spoke to our reporter on the issue said that INEC failure to provide more centres in Bauchi metropolis will disenfranchise many people.

"I am sure people will be frustrated with this exercise. If you look at the economic situation of an average Bauchi citizen who lives from hand to mouth, it is a great sacrifice for him to be spending his time waiting for voters card," he said.

When contacted, the head of voter education and information Bauchi INEC office, Yahay Salihu Mohammed said that, there were other centres located at Hassan Usman Katsina Unity College, Dindima and another one located at a primary school near the military barracks all in Bauchi metropolis. 

"We have other centres, the only thing is that the centre you are talking about is located at the centre of Bauchi metropolis and is the local government INEC office, so people are more familiar with it and that is why they troop to the place," he said.