2023: INEC to commence continuous voters registration in June ― Professor Yakubu

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) will commence the Continuous Voters Registration (CVR) in June this year.

Chairman of the Commission, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, made the disclosure, on Thursday, at a press briefing in Abuja.

Professor Yakubu said the exercise which will be conducted nationwide effective from June 28 will be carried out throughout this year and the third quarter of next year.

He further hinted that the exercise would take off in Anambra State in view of the governorship election slated for November in the South-East state.

He said: “Effective from Monday, June 28, 2021, the CVR exercise will commence nationwide and carried out continuously for over a year until the third quarter of 2022. However, emphasis will initially be on Anambra State where more centres will be established in view of the Governorship election already scheduled for Saturday 6th November 2021.

“In order to complete preparations for the Governorship election, the CVR exercise in the state will be temporarily suspended in August 2021. This will enable the Commission to clean up the data for the state and print the PVCs for registrants. 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. In doing so, we will fully consult stakeholders. In fact, the first in the series of these consultations will take place after the Easter break.”

The INEC Chairman listed those to take advantage of the CVR to include, “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.”

Professor Yakubu, however, said the ongoing National Identification Number (NIN) would not be a hindrance to intending registrants for Voters Registration.

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He noted that Section 10 of the Electoral Act listed identification card amongst voting items but did not single it out as mandatory. According to Professor Yakubu, “it is just one of the means required for identification.”

Speaking on the Ekiti State bye-election, which was aborted as a result of the violence that trailed the exercise and claimed human lives, Professor Yakubu said his Commission was disappointed by the conduct of politicians.

Professor Yakubu who recalled that the Commission had conducted 25 bye-elections since 2019 maintained that none was as rancorous as the election conducted to fill a vacant seat in Ekiti East Constituency 1.

He said INEC under his leadership would continue to enforce prosecution of electoral offenders.

“Let me say that the elections that were rancorous were exceptions to the rule in all elections conducted by INEC. We have conducted 25 bye-elections since 2019, we haven’t had the kind of experience we had in Ekiti. The election shouldn’t be a battleground but we shall continue to enforce the law.

“We shall convene a meeting with political parties in conjunction with interagency on security. We will continue to enforce and strengthen prosecution.

“Given what happened in Akwa Ibom State, no one should again doubt our resolve to enforce the law. The offender in Akwa Ibom was a high profile offender. But we must continue to appeal to political parties to comport themselves well on election day. We have suspended Ekiti, indefinitely and I mean, indefinitely! ”

NIGERIAN TRIBUNE

2023: INEC to commence continuous voters registration in June ― Professor Yakubu