C’River religious leaders seek worship centres among registration centres

Religious leaders in Cross River state have called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to include Churches and Mosques as registration points in the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise.
They made the call yesterday in Calabar during a meeting of religious leaders with the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Dr Frankland Briyai, organised by the Department of Voter Education and Publicity (VEP), Cross River Office of the commission.
Speaking, Rev. Father Ephraim of Calabar Catholic Diocese said INEC could capture hundreds of Worshippers who did not have the time to visit any of their centers.
“I am suggesting that one of the ways to ensure that more people are registered should be to take the registration churches on Sundays. There are many people that would not have the chance to register because of their busy schedule but if you come to the church on Sunday, they will compeled to register. So, it is very necessary that INEC take the registration of voters to the churches on Sundays, so that more of our members can register,” he said.
Malachy said that, already the Catholic had taken the registration seriously by using every opportunity to remind members of the importance voter registration.
Also speaking, a Muslim cleric, Sheik Abdulkadir Bature, said the bringing the registration point to the mosque during Juma’at prayers would encourage more people to register.
“Bring registration point to Mosques during Friday prayers and I can assure that you will register everybody.
“It is the best way of making sure that everybody is registered, because so many people are not ready to leave their business to go and register, but when they see people registering after the Juma’at prayers they will follow,” he said.
Responding, Briyai expressed happiness with the contributions of the religious leaders and assured them that the request would be conveyed to the INEC Headquarter for approval.
He said: “I will make a special request for that to my Chairman in Abuja and I will give you a feedback as soon as possible. It is good idea, but as a commission established by an act of parliament, we have do everything according to the law.”
He disclosed that INEC in the state had earlier resorted to going to various markets to register people, adding that it could comfortably register people in churches and mosques if given the permission.
“When we visited one of the markets here in Calabar we registered as many as 600 people in a day, so that goes to show that many people are still registered,” he said.
He appealed to the religious leaders to assist INEC in mobilising their followers to register as this was the only way they could exercise their voting rights.
The REC also asked for prayers religious leaders for a successful election in the state and Nigeria in 2019, adding that commission was doing everything possible to ensure a peaceful election.
The Leaders of various religious groups in the state including Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PPFN) as well as Imams of different mosques in the state attended the meeting. (NAN)