By John Ikani
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has directed all Resident Electoral Commissioners and Electoral Officers to continue with the Continuous Voters Registration (CVR) pending further directives from the commission.
Recall that the commission had fixed the exercise to end on June 30. However, given the renewed interest of Nigerians, most especially the youth, vis-à-vis pressure from other quarters, the commission considered extending the exercise.
PRESS RELEASE
* Continuous Voter Registration to
continue nationwide* Political parties to upload validly
nominated Governorship/ State
Assembly candidates to portal
between 1st and 15th July pic.twitter.com/MGV8UvehJi— INEC Nigeria (@inecnigeria) June 30, 2022
In line with our commitment to fostering a sustainable democratic Africa, Heritage Times (HT) has made a compilation of seven things you should Know as the exercise continues.
1. First Things First. Will Your Vote Count In 2023?
Absolutely yes. This is as INEC has assured not just Nigerians but the international community that the commission will always submit itself to the sanctity of votes cast by voters.
“I want to assure you that we will continue to do what is right on the basis of the law; the ultimate choice is going to be made by Nigerians,” INEC Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu told the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS), Mahamat Saleh Annadif on Tuesday.
“Nigerians will determine who they want in the 2023 general election and we will continue to uphold the choice made by Nigerians,” Yakubu added.
2. Do PVCs Expire?
Absolutely no. Speaking on the backdrop of misleading information that PVCs expire, INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Enugu State, Dr Emeka Ononamadu said: “The cards are permanent and do not expire by any means or standard.
“The commission does not understand where such wrong and misleading information on PVCs’ expiration is coming from.
“We have always made it clear that our PVCs are permanent and without any expiration or invalid date.”
“Any rumour that PVCs of those that registered from 2011 had expired is false and should be disregarded,” he said.
3. Persons Involved In Multiple Registrations Will Face Prosecution
The INEC Head of Electoral Operations, Felix Daramola on Thursday, vowed that the electoral umpire will prosecute anyone involved in multiple registrations in the ongoing CVR exercise across the country.
According to him, the commission had been empowered by the new Electoral Act 2022, to prosecute anybody who registered more than once.
“Don’t let us register twice, if you have registered before in a particular state and you register afresh in another state, the two registrations will be reflected on our database.
“If we discover such double registration, we may decide to remove the two names and prosecute the offender in accordance with the law,” he said.
4. Top 10 states with the highest number of registered voters
According to the latest update released by INEC on the CVR exercise, 10.48 million new registrations had been recorded while 8.63 registrations have been completed as of June 27, 2022.
Analysis by HT reveals that top 10 States with the highest number of registered voters include:
• Lagos (6,942,051 registered voters).
• Kano (5,838,329 registered voters).
• Kaduna (4,239,441 registered voters).
• Rivers (3,587,679 registered voters).
• Katsina (3,444,064 registered voters).
• Delta (3,242,174 registered voters).
• Oyo (3,216,061 registered voters).
• Benue (2,717,673 registered voters).
• Bauchi (2,711,985 registered voters).
• Anambra (2,651,152 registered voters)
5. 13 Additional Voter Registration Centres Created In Abuja
Residents of Nigeria’s capital city Abuja have been complaining of slow CVR exercise, a development they partly ascribed to the limited number of registration centres.
It appears they will have less reasons to make further complaints as INEC has created 13 additional registration centres to address the upsurge in registrants’ turnout.
The centres are:
• City Centre–Diplomatic Park, Area 1.
• Gwarinpa G.S.S Life Camp.
• Wuse G.S.S Zone 3.
• Kabusa Primary School and Lugbe Primary School.
Others are:
• Giwa-Gwagwa Primary School.
• GUI-Gosa Primary School.
• Karshi-Karshi Development Center.
• Orozo=Orozo Primary School.
The rest are:
• Nyanya-G.S.S Nyanya.
• Kubwa-L.E.A Primary School Kubwa.
• Dutse-Alhaji-L.E.A Primary School Dutse,
• L.E.A Primary School, Dawaki
• L.E.A Primary School, Mpape.
6. When Will New Registrants Get Their PVCs?
Nigerians who are currently registering in the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise will nget their permanent voters card (PVCs) in October 2022.
“I want to assure you that the PVC will be ready for collection latest in October this year. So all of you will have your PVCs,” said INEC Chair Professor Mahmood Yakubu on Saturday during a Youth Vote Must Count 2.0 concert organised in Abuja by INEC, Yiaga Africa and the European Union.
7. Low Rate of PVC Collection In Lagos State is Worrisome
Did you know that only 6,382 PVCs out of 34,242 received from the commission’s headquarters for the first and second quarters CVR had been collected by their owners?
“This is just 18.6 per cent; similarly, for the old PVCs, a total of 1,091,157 are still uncollected by their owners,” said State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Olusegun Agbaje on Thursday.
Are you a Lagosian or know anyone residing in Nigeria’s commercial hub? Please encourage them to go collect their PVCs!
