NATION WIDE VOTER CONTINUOUS VOTER REGISTRATION EXERCISE TO BEGIN ON JUNE 28, SAYS YAKUBU
Oru Leonard
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has set the recommencement of the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR), exercise nationwide on Monday 28, 2021.
The INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu who stated this during a press today at Abuja. disclosed that the CVR excercise will commence nationwide and carried out continuously for over a year until the third quarter of 2022, with emphasis on Anambra State, where more centres will be established in view of the Governorship election already scheduled for Saturday, November 6, 2021.
Yakubu however said that in order to complete preparations for the Anambra state Governorship election, the CVR exercise in the State will be temporarily suspended in August 2021, to enable the Commission clean up the data for the State and print the PVCs for registrants.
He listed activities to be accomplished within the timelines leading to the recommencement of the exercise to include; Expansion of voter access to Polling Units – 11th May 2021; Building and testing the online registration Portal – 15th May 2021; Arrival of the new generation of registration devices – the IVED – 31st May 2021; Recruitment and training of Voter Enrolment Staff – 14th June 2021; and Restart of CVR – 28th June 2021.
The INEC said the reasons why the Commission failed to recommence the CVR in the first quarter of 2021 were as a result of The establishment of new systems that would ensure safer CVR exercise in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic; The Commission’s determination to expand voter access to Polling Units; and The decision of the Commission to introduce a new voter registration equipment and technology. He added that as time goes on, the Commission will provide more details on the CVR exercise, particularly the innovations that will ensure a safe and stress-free experience for registrants, adding that INEC will fully consult stakeholders starting after the Easter break.
He urged all intending registrants, especially those that have turned 18 recently to turn out and register from Monday 28th June 2021.
“The following categories of Nigerians are particularly encouraged to seize the opportunity of the CVR in order to fulfil the important civic responsibility of voting:
“All Nigerians who are 18 years of age and have never been registered to vote;
Any registered voter who has had any issue during accreditation at previous elections so that the Commission can rectify the problem;
All registered voters who wish to transfer their voting locations from the present one to another;
All registered voters who have lost their PVCs or whose PVCs have been defaced or damaged; and
All registered voters who wish to correct their information such as misspellings of names, dates of birth etc.”, The INEC Chairman explained.
Prof Yakubu told Journaliists at the.press conference that of all the 25 by-elections since the 2019 general elections, none were as violent as Ekiti State. He said the Commission will continue to enforce the law as it allows us to do so. We intend to convene meetings with Political Parties immediately after Easter and also Security agencies and we will continue to ensure and strengthen prosecution”.
He appealed to prospective registrants to register only once, as it is an offence to register for the CVR more than once.
He also said that the National Identification Number (NIN), is not mandatory as it is not covered by the INEC Electoral Act
