The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has directed its electoral officers to continue with its Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) nationwide.
It officially announced the extension on Friday after deliberations on some concerns around the exercise, among other emerging issues ahead of the 2023 general elections.
The INEC Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, first hinted about the extension on Saturday at the Youth Vote Count concert in Abuja.
Like Mr Yakubu, the commission, in its latest statement signed by its spokesperson, Festus Okoye, did not also stipulate when the exercise will officially end.
“The Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) will continue nationwide, and all the Resident Electoral Commissioners and Electoral Officers have been directed to continue with the exercise pending further directives from the Commission.
“The Commission has consistently reiterated its resolve to continue to provide electoral services to the Nigerian people and register all eligible Nigerians that are interested in registering. The Commission has yet again deployed additional machines to areas of pressure and will continue to serve the people of Nigeria,” Mr Okoye said.
INEC, in the last few weeks, has received knocks from Nigerians following the hiccups witnessed by many registrants in some registration centres in the country.
There are also complaints about the unprofessional conduct of the Commission’s staff in some states and the shortage of registration machines.
Apart from the daily affronts from Nigerians on social media, INEC ’s planned deadline has been stalled by a pending case initiated by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) and some displaced Nigerians.
“The case at the Federal High Court relating to the terminal date of the CVR came up yesterday Wednesday 29th June 2022, and based on the request of the Commission, the Court granted an accelerated hearing and adjourned the matter to Monday 4th July 2022 for hearing of the substantive matter. The Commission will give an update after the court hearing next week,” Mr Okoye said.
As the July 1 to 15 window for the upload of the list and personal particulars of nominated candidates by political parties approaches, INEC urged parties to properly scrutinise their documents to “avoid any mix-up and duplication of names.”
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