Guber polls: INEC extends voter registration in Edo, Ondo

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has extended the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) in Edo and Ondo States earlier scheduled to end on June 6 to June 9, 2024.

The INEC National Commissioner and Chairman of Information and Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun, disclosed this in a statement on Tuesday, June 4.

Olumekun noted that the daily duration of the exercise was also extended from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

He added: “Furthermore, the number of registration centres has been increased beyond the 397 wards and the state offices in Benin City and Akure to include all the 36 Local Government offices of INEC in the two states.

“More machines will also be deployed to areas identified to have peculiar needs such as difficult terrain.”

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Olumekun stated that detailed information on the names and locations of the LGA offices had been uploaded on the INEC website and social media platforms to guide prospective voters in the two states.

The INEC official noted that the decision was taken after a review of the exercise, stakeholders’ appeal, and other matters to enable more eligible voters in the states to register.

He disclosed that as of June 3, eight days after the commencement of the voter registration, a total of 120,458 new voters had been registered.

He said out of the figure, 55,861, representing 46.4 per cent were males, while 64,597, representing 53.6 per cent were female.

Olumekun added that 82,003 of the voters, representing 68.8 per cent, were youths between the ages of 18 and 34 years, thereby constituting the majority of the newly registered voters.

“In terms of occupation, 43,419 representing 36.8 per cent are students, while 812, representing 0.67 per cent are Persons with Disability (PWDs),” he said.

He said the final figures would be published on a state-by-state basis after a data clean-up, indicating all categories of newly registered voters at the end of the exercise.

Olumekun said the data would be clean using the Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS).

The INEC official, therefore, appealed to eligible voters to seize the opportunity of the extension to register, transfer, or correct personal information on their PVCs as provided by law, adding that there would be no further extension.

The Star