Nigeria’s massive voter registration process ended in disarray on Sunday in Lagos and many other parts of the country where a one-day extension failed to be implemented.
The electoral agency granted the extension late on Saturday but no registration centres were found open on Sunday morning in Nigeria’s largest city Lagos, the main northern city of Kano or in Osogbo in southwest.
The drive sought to register voters in Africa’s most populous nation ahead of next year’s presidential, state gubernatorial and legislative elections aimed at achieving the first peaceful transfer of power from one civilian regime to another in 42 years of independence from Britain.
State-run Radio Nigeria said that despite the extension, it was clear that millions of Nigerians had been unable to participate in the exercise which ended at 5pm (1600 GMT).
It said there was an absence of officials and a shortage of voting papers at registration centres across the country.
A top official from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Hakeem Baba Ahmed, said late on Saturday that more than two million forms had been released to complete the registration begun on September 12.
The 10-day exercise, during which an estimated 60-million Nigerians were expected to sign up at 120 000 registration offices, was officially scheduled to end at 5pm (1600 GMT) on Saturday.
But it was extended after many people were unable to register because of a shortage of voting papers.
Fraud also appears to have caused delays, as earlier in the week electoral officials charged that politicians had stolen tens of thousands of voter forms in order to fix the polls.
Many people complained on radio and television programmes of their inability to get enlisted.
Previous attempts in Nigeria to see power democratically transferred have been thwarted by the military amid allegations of widespread corruption.
The decision to extend the deadline was an embarrassment for the government and the electoral agency which had hitherto insisted that Saturday was the final day to sign up.
In the event, many Nigerians were unaware of the extension, and some newspapers on Sunday confused the issue more by reporting that it applied only to the capital Abuja.
Meanwhile in northwestern Sokoto, five foreigners were arrested on Saturday as they attempted to register, state-run Radio Kaduna reported on Sunday, quoting a national electoral official. However it did not disclose their identities or nationalities.
The incident happened in Sokoto, a northwestern state bordering Niger, amid unconfirmed reports that some people from Niger and Chad were trying to take part in the exercise.
Thousands of nationals of the two neighbouring countries live and work in Nigeria. – Sapa-AFP