The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has concluded arrangements to commence Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise for fresh, eligible voters in Edo and Ondo States, ahead of the off-season governorship elections slated for Sept. 21 and Nov. 16 respectively in both states.
The CVR billed to commence on May 27 and end on June 5 will take place simultaneously in the two states.
The INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, who announced the Commission’s decision at the second regular quarterly meeting with Political Parties held Monday in Abuja, affirmed that the CVR was only open to new registrants.
Yakubu said that also to participate in the CVR are those who seek to transfer their registration from other states to Edo and Ondo States. Uncollected Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) will be made available for collection during the exercise.
However, there will be no online pre-registration option because of time constraints, while the exercise will be conducted at Ward level and the Commission’s State headquarters instead of its Local Government offices and a few designated centres.
By implication, the exercise will take place at 192 Ward registration centres in Edo State and 203 centres in Ondo State, plus the Commission’s State offices in Benin City and Akure.
Prof Yakubu said: “As the elections in the two States approach, the Commission has decided to resume the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) in the two States to enable eligible citizens who are not registered voters to do so. Similarly, those who are registered voters also have the opportunity to transfer their registration from other States of the federation to Edo and Ondo States or from one location to another within the two States. Let me reiterate that the CVR is only open to new registrants and those who seek to transfer their registration. Persons who are registered as voters should not attempt to register again as double or multiple registration is illegal. Lost or damaged voters’ cards will be replaced during the exercise but this does not require fresh registration. The CVR in Edo and Ondo States will take place simultaneously from Monday 27th May 2024 to Wednesday 5th June 2024 from 9.00am to 3.00pm daily including the weekend.
He added: “Taking into consideration the limited time to the Governorship elections, the Commission has decided to conduct the registration at Ward level and our State headquarters instead of our Local Government offices and a few designated centers as was case in the past. This means that there will be 192 Ward registration centres in Edo State and 203 centres in Ondo State, in addition to our State offices in Benin City and Akure, making a total of 397 walk-in registration centres in the two States. There will be no online pre-registration option in the two States because of time constraint. Each centre will be managed by two officials drawn from our regular staff and the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC). In the next few days, the Commission will commence the training of at least 794 officials for the exercise.”
Prof. Yakubu enjoined the party leaders and other stakehodlers to collaborate with the Commission in mobilising prospective registrants for the exercise “particularly on the need to register early and not wait until the deadline approaches when the registration cnetres are inundated by 11th hour registrants.”
Giving further update on the Commission’s preparations for the Edo State governorship Election, Prof. Yakubu noted that so far, the Commission had published the final list of candidates while the campaign in public which began on 24th April would end at midnight on Thursday 19th September. He urged party leaders to continue to maintain law and order during the electioneering process and beyond.
He reminded the parties of the need to adhere strictly by the timeline of uploading the list of their polling and collation agents to the dedicated portal to enable the Commission produce and deliver identity cards for the expected 73,823 polling agents and 3,587 Ward, Local Government and State Collation Agents for the 17 political parties participating in the election.
With regards to Ondo State, the INEC political Chairman said that parties have just concluded their primaries, while urging them to upload their list of nominated candidates to the dedicated portal before the 20th May 2024 deadline when the portal would automatically shut down. “There will be no extension of time,” he warned.
In his remark, the National Chairman of the Inter-party Advisory Council (IPAC), Yusuf M. Dantalle, stressed the importance of mass mobilization of citizens for the CVR exercise in Edo and Ondo states.
He said: “As the umbrella body of all registered political parties in Nigeria, IPAC will spearhead this crucial exercise in collaboration with INEC. We are deeply concerned by the low voter turnout in recent years particularly in the 2023 general election. It calls for concerted efforts by all stakeholders in the electoral process.
“For democracy to succeed, it is very important that eligible citizens are active participants. It is obvious that your vote is your voice. For your voice to be heard, you must register to vote. It is imperative that INEC maintains an updated Register of Voters in real time.”
The IPAC Chairman also said: “All eyes are on INEC to conduct free, fair, credible, acceptable and inclusive elections. With adequate preparations, functional BVAS and capacity to upload results in real time to its IReV portal, Nigerians will once more have confidence in the electoral system where every vote will be counted and count in the overall result.”
