INEC to Recommence Continuous Voter Registration Exercise June 28—Yakubu.
……Says Anambra State Governorship election to be held on 6th November 2021, others to be prioritised.
Oru Leonard
Despite the challenges that the threats and challenges The Independent Electoral Commission (INEC), has faced in recent years, the Commission is doing everything possible to forestall disruptions to several upcoming electoral activities, particularly the CVR exercise which is planned to undertake continuously in 2,673 centres nationwide for a period of over one year involving thousands of INEC officials supported by security personnel.
The INEC Chairman Prof. Mahmood Yakubu disclosed this on Wednesday in an emergency meeting with the Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) to find lasting solution to the attacks and other challenges of the Commission.
“On the positive side, the Commission conducted 28 out of 32 bye-elections across the country since the 2019 General Election, in addition to four end-of tenure Governorship elections in Bayelsa, Edo, Kogi and Ondo States. The bye-elections were held in 20 States involving six Senatorial Districts, seven Federal Constituencies, 18 State Constituencies and one Councillorship Constituency in Abaji Ward of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). Indeed, it is now clear that the Commission must reconcile itself with the fact that elections have become an all-year round undertaking in Nigeria.
“The challenges posed by these threats notwithstanding, INEC is still positive that it can find lasting solutions to the spate of attacks on its facilities, adding, however, that this must be done quickly to forestall disruptions to several upcoming electoral activities, particularly the CVR exercise which is planned to undertake continuously in 2,673 centres nationwide for a period of over one year involving thousands of INEC officials supported by security personnel”, he said
In addition to the bye-elections, the Commission successfully concluded stakeholder engagements on the expansion of voter access to Polling Units. I am glad to inform you that the option of converting existing Voting Points and Voting Point Settlements into full-fledged Polling Units and situating them in the most agreeable locations to support increased voter access was overwhelmingly accepted by Nigerians. Consequently, the Commission has, in the last three weeks concluded the actual exercise as well as the verification of the newly established Polling Units. In the next few days, the Commission will meet to finalise the compilation and coding of Polling Units and thereafter make the information public. The Commission wishes to thank all Nigerians for their support in addressing the 25-year-old problem.
“As you are also aware, our current Strategic Plan covering the period 2016-2021 expires at the end of this year. Consequently, the Committee set up by the Commission to develop the 2022-2026 Strategic Plan has concluded its work, the validation of which will commence this week. The Strategic Plan and the Strategic Programme of Action will serve as the framework and guiding document for the work of the Commission for the 2023 General Election and beyond. Therefore, it is a very important document and I appeal to you to accord the validation process the attention it deserves.
“I am also glad to report that the Commission has virtually completed the necessary preparations for the resumption of the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) commencing on 28th June 2021. What is left is to finalise the newly established Polling Units in order to update our registration software to make them available to registrants. I wish to thank the Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) and staff of the Commission for the dedication with which they have approached these enormous tasks” he stated.
Yakubu noted that however more work still lies ahead, adding that INEC shall continue preparations for two bye-elections scheduled for the 19th June 2021 in Sabon Gari State Constituency in Kaduna State and Gwaram Federal Constituency in Jigawa State while awaiting the official declaration of vacancies by the House of Representatives for the Jos North/Bassa Federal Constituency in Plateau State and Lere Federal Constituency in Kaduna State. Furthermore, preparations for the Anambra State Governorship election to be held on 6th November 2021 and the FCT Area Council election scheduled for 12th February 2022 will be prioritised. Similarly, we shall continue our early preparations for the 2023 General Election.
“The Commission has already established an Election Project Plan (EPP) Committee to work on the 2023 Election Plan. The idea is to complete the Plan early enough and make sure that we are fully ready for the election, which is now only 640 days away” he expressed.
