Nigeria Content Online

The Resident Electoral Commisioner of
the Independent National Electoral Commission for Adamawa State, Kassim
Gaidam has taken delivery of over 8,000 Direct Data Capture (DDC)
machines, promising that the machines will get to every ward and the
2609 polling units of the state.

Security around the
INEC headquarters’ in the state has also been tightened following the
delivery of the machines. Visitors to the INEC office now have to be
subjected to serious security checks, a measure, Mr Gaidam said has
become necessary to ensure that the machines are protected from theft.

In other states
which had earlier received the equipment, training has already started
for staff on the use of Direct Data Capture machines ahead of the voter
registration scheduled to begin on Jan. 15. In Enugu State, the
Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Josiah Uwazuruonye, urged the
trainees to be diligent and receptive to instructions.

He said voter registration is the starting point of the electoral process and should be taken seriously.

“Registration is an
important exercise, given the current political history of the nation,”
he said. “There is a need to get it right this time.” In Adamawa State,
Mr Gaidam told journalists that additional 2,000 DDC machines were
still being expected to be delivered in a second consignment.

He said adhoc staff
being recruited by INEC in the state for the forthcoming voter
registration exercise will be subjected to test at the end of the
training as part of measures to ensure that it got only the best hands
for the exercise.

Train the staff

A staff of the
commission said the office needs to make strenuous efforts to train its
284 registration camp officers on the use of the DDC machines due to
the late arrival of the machines.

At the Federal
College of Education, Yola venue for the train the trainers workshop,
our reporter gathered that the DDC machines which are suppose to be
used for the training a day earlier were only received today, the last
day of the training. A check on the venue revealed that some of the DDC
machines were already been displayed and ready to be used for training.

It was gathered
that the commission directed a shift in the close of the training to
allow for the trainees to be properly skilled on the use of the DDC
machines.

“226 official
registration area camp officers are being trained to preside over each
of the registration area centres of the 226 wards in the state,” Thomas
Umar, head of operations of INEC, said. He pointed out that 62 other
officials are taking part in the exercise.

Mr Gaidam, who re-stated the target of
his commission to register over 2million voters in the state in the
forthcoming voter registration exercise, noted that “there’s much more
awareness now about the forthcoming voter registration exercise.” He
promised to ensure that the DDC machines get to each of the 2609
polling units in the state, promising to put at least 3 DDC machines in
each of the polling units.