The protesters feared that they may not get the chance to vote during the 2023 election as the Independent National Electoral Commission announced July 31, 2022 as the deadline for the Continuous Voter Registration exercise.
Many prospective voters thronged the state's head office of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Kano protesting their inability to register in the ongoing Continuous Voters Registration (CVR).
This is as INEC announced the exercise will end on 31 July.
Some of the protesters who spoke with PREMIUM TIMES on Monday said they were denied access to the INEC office even as they came early to be registered.
But the Electoral Commission has responded that their offices across the 44 local government areas of the state are open for continuous voter registration and are doing their best to register everyone.
The protesters feared that they might not vote in the 2023 election as INEC announced 31 July as the deadline for the exercise.
Complaints
A resident, Ikechukwu Eze, lamented that despite days spent coming to the INEC office he could not register as a voter.
"They (the government) said we should come and register, we do come out, and several times I came to the INEC but still I am unable to register. I pray that the INEC should do something to help us get the registration," Mr Eze said.
A protester, Muhammad Isah, from Ungogo Local Government Area, said INEC cannot close their main gate at 7:00 a.m. and leave people stranded outside because many of them come from afar to get registered.
He said: "We spent our money to transport ourselves to the INEC office to exercise our right because your vote is your right, INEC should do something and correct the anomaly.
"We came to the INEC head office to register because the only computer sent to my political ward is not enough for us," Mr Isah added.
"I came from Zango ward in Ungogo, my ward is the most populous in the council area and only one computer was sent for the voters' registration.
"We left our businesses and rushed to the INEC head office because one computer is not sufficient for us; while we are here INEC should have considered us because they asked us to come and register, we came but they are maltreating us," Mr Isah lamented.
Another protester, Safiya Aliyu, from Nasarawa Local Government Area, said she left her siblings at home to come and register but could not do so.
"As of Monday morning, I came to the INEC head office thrice but it was still unsuccessful for me to get register, I need to register to satisfy my conscience and please my interest," Mrs Aliyu said.
Zulaihat Adam said: "They barred us from entering the INEC office to register for the CVR. We left our loved ones at home in the early morning. We are eventually abandoned at the gate.
"They denied us access to the premises. If Women did not come out for the CVR they will say women are not cooperating and patriotic, now that we are here, they dump us like a waste," Ms Adam said.
INEC responds
Meanwhile the INEC's spokesperson in Kano, Adam Maulud, acknowledged the mass turnout of residents for the continuous voter registration.
He, however, said the commission is doing the needful to get people registered.
"Yes, there are many people at the gate of the INEC head office in Kano, so also at the local government level, people are trooping to register and INEC has added the extension of time for the people to register," Mr Maulud said.
He said INEC is in the final week of the extension of the continuous voter registration which prompted people to come enmasse to register.
"Earlier before this dateline people are reluctant to come and register, we register only one to three people per day," the official said
"The commission has in the last two weeks included Saturday and Sunday as working days for Continuous Voter Registration to satisfy the people," the spokesperson added.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
"Now people do come to the INEC office as early as 3:00 a,m. to register their presence in a queue because the exercise is about to end, nonetheless, INEC is doing well in the registration.
"All INEC offices and registration centres are open by 9:00 a.m. in the 44 local government areas and even if someone comes early in the morning, he cannot enter the office premises until the official working hours,' Mr Maulud said.
Voters registered
Meanwhile, The INEC's spokesperson in Kano said the state currently has about six million registered voters.
He said completed registrations in Kano reached 458,559 as of 18 July.
Mr Maulud said if the number of the new registrants so far in the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) is added to the registered voters before in the state, the number will be about six million.
The previous voters registered in the state before the CVR was 5,457,747.
