The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said the ongoing voters’ registration exercise will close at the end of July in preparation for next year’s general election. This is even as the Commission announced the exercise will now be held on Saturdays and Sundays.
Rising from an extraordinary session held yesterday (Friday 15th July 2022), the Commission also extended the registration time
to eight hours daily from 9.00 am – 5.00 pm instead of the current duration of six hours (9.00 am – 3.00 pm) daily.
In a statement by Festus Okoye Esq., National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, the Commission said its decision followed the judgement delivered by a Federal High Court on Wednesday 13th July 2022 in which it dismissed the suit filed by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) which is seeking an extension of the exercise beyond 30th June 2022. The court affirmed that INEC is at liberty to appoint a date of its choice to suspend the CVR, provided it is not later than 90 days before the date fixed for the general election as provided in Section 9(6) of the Electoral Act 2022.
The Commission said in compliance with the interim injunction of the court pending the determination of the substantive suit, and in order to enable more Nigerians to register, the Commission continued with the Continuous Voters Registration (CVR) beyond 30th June 2022. “For this reason, the CVR has already been extended beyond 30th June 2022 for 15 days
“With the judgement of the Federal High Court, all legal encumbrances have now been removed”.
While appreciating that the timeframe may be tight for many prospective registrants, the Commission says there is a lot that it is required to do under the electoral legal framework in relation to voter registration and compilation of the register that will require time to accomplish.
The Commission listed some of the requirements to include:
1. Clean-up of the register to remove multiple registrants using the Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS);
2. Consolidate the national register of voters (existing voters and new registrants) and display the same on Polling Unit basis for each of the 8,809 Registration Areas (Wards) across the 774 Local Government Areas nationwide for public scrutiny. This lasts for one week. Based on a new projection of 95 million voters, based on 10 voters per page, the Commission has to print 9,500,000 pages for the display;
3.Print millions of Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) for all fresh registrants and applicants for transfer and replacement of lost or damaged PVCs;
4.Ensure that there is ample time for voters to collect their PVCs ahead of the 2023 General Election;
5.Print the final register of voters in triplicate for the 2023 General Election involving a projected 28,500,000 pages for accreditation and display at 176,846 polling units for national elections (Presidential and National Assembly) on 25th February 2023 and State elections (Governorship and State Assembly) on 11th March 2023; and
6.Make copies of the updated national register of voters available to political parties not later than 30 days to the date fixed for the General Election.
While appealing for patience and understanding of all Nigerians as it concludes the exercise which will resume after the 2023 general election, the Commission has observed that following the continuation of the exercise beyond 30th June 2022, many of the registration centres recorded a low turnout of prospective registrants. “With this two-week extension, we appeal to eligible citizens not to wait until the last few days before they inundate the centres again to register”, the Commission urged.